#i sound stupid for this take and rest assured i’m not that serious

[sonic-adventure-3]

they should rename the chaos emeralds the chaos beryls

[lovebugism]

Hi there 👋🏻 I've been binge reading your stories lately and I love them all! I have a request if you're up for it. Could you write one where shy!reader doesn't like her laugh because some people think it's annoying but Eddie loves it? Totally not self-projecting by the way! 🙃 Thank you!

thank you angel! please enjoy :D — eddie comforts you when he finds out an old boyfriend made you hate your laugh (shy!fem!r, established relationship, hurt/comfort, 1k)

You and Eddie sit on opposite sides of the worn, sunken-in couch — long legs bent at the knees, socked feet wedged neatly beneath your thighs. Your bare calves rest on either side of his lap while his calloused palms rub up and down the length of them. His touch is largely absentminded as he tries hopelessly not to laugh through the punchline of his own joke.

“—And I was like, ‘Boom. You lookin’ for this?’”

You think the brown-eyed look of expectancy he gives you is funnier than anything. You smile wide, hiding the sparkling expression behind your palm.

Eddie meets your beam with a boyish pout. He repeats the punchline, more serious this time. “And I was like, ‘Boom’—”

“I heard you, Eds,” you assure with a small chuckle. A mere breath of a laugh.

His frown deepens. “Oh, c’mon!” he exclaims, lifting his hands in protest. They drop back to your ankles a second later. “That was funny! That always kills with Hellfire!”

You nod rapidly, brows raised and eyes wide, like a parent comforting a child. “It was good,” you assure quickly.

“Then why aren’t you laughing?”

“So, what— I have to laugh if I think something’s funny?”

“Well, that’s usually how it works, yeah,” Eddie monotones with a flat face, nodding until his wild curls sway around his jaw. He shrugs lazily a second later and jokes, “If you’re not a psychopath, at least… You’re not a serial killer, are you?”

You meet his narrowed eyes with a more pensive gaze. Your lips purse to the side of your mouth as you jokingly ponder the silly question. “No,” you answer after a few long moments. “Not yet, anyway.”

Eddie nods like he’s relieved. “Nice.”

“There’s still time, though,” you add with a scrunched nose.

He scrunches the bridge of his back. “I’ll take that risk,” he says with a small huff before lifting his weight on his knuckles. The old couch creaks in protest as he leans over to kiss you. 

With a poorly bitten-back grin, you meet him halfway. Your mouths smack together in a fleeting kiss that tastes faintly of frozen pizza.

You settle back on the arm of the couch with Eddie’s socked toes wriggling under your thighs. His thumbs continue tracing shapes on the insides of your calves. He watches you watch the staticky television screen, too wound up about the whole thing to join in on the stupid sitcom.

The subtly overwhelming feeling bubbles in his throat until it spills like vomit from his mouth. “Do you think I’m not funny or something?” he blurts, then goes all shy right after. “Is that why… Is that why you don’t really laugh at my jokes?”

Your breathy scoff only further proves his point. “I laugh at your jokes all the time, Eds.”

He shrugs, unconvinced. “I mean… I guess. You, like, breathe really hard through your nose or whatever, but you don’t… You don’t laugh.”

“I think if you heard me laugh, you’d break up with me,” you joke and don’t think twice about how self-deprecating it is.

Eddie’s face twists at the thought — that he’d ever want to break up with you, or that there’d be a part of you he wouldn’t automatically adore on instinct. “Why would you say that?” 

You shrug with a vague I don’t know type of sound and turn back to the television. “My laugh is just weird, I guess....”

“No one’s laugh is weird!” Eddie insists. “It’s, like, the one sound people make when they’re happiest— It can’t be weird.”

You flash him a deadpan look of silent disagreement.

He caves.

“Okay. Fine. Dustin Henderson’s laugh is weird,” he concludes. “But… that’s just because he’s Dustin, you know?”

You breathe a faint chuckle at that. Almost like you’ve trained yourself to be as quiet in your laughter as you can. 

“My last boyfriend thought my laugh was annoying,” you confess like it’s no big deal. “So eventually I just kinda… stopped.”

Eddie’s soft features harden into a solemn frown. “What a fucking prick…” he grumbles like a storm cloud.

“It’s okay. I got over it. Mostly.”

He squeezes the backs of your calves with a pair of ringed hands, a warm and reassuring touch. “Well, I don’t think anything you do could annoy me,” Eddie tells you, tilting his head to the side until his wild curls bunch at his shoulders. “Just so we’re clear.”

Something in your chest flutters — like there’s a thousand moths trapped behind your ribcage. “Good to know,” you tease in the same sardonic tone.

Eddie rises suddenly, tugging at your ankles until you’re lying flatter on the couch. A squeal sound in your throat as you watch him rise to his knees and lean over you. He digs his fingers gently into the plush of your sides before you can blink. 

“Get off!” you swat at him, laughing loudly at the tickling sensation before you can help it. The golden sound spills from your lips and fills the dim trailer with so many little sunbeams. 

Your face heats at the proud, lopsided smile Eddie gives you.

“Get off,” you repeat, sterner now but still mostly playful. You’re only slightly surprised when Eddie obeys without pouting. You sit up a bit more and tug your shirt down from where it had ridden up. “And stop looking at me like that.”

Eddie fights to purse his beam to the side of his mouth. Your sparkling, unsmiling disposition is impossible not to smile at. “Can’t help it,” the boy shrugs with a stupid grin. “You’re too cute.”

Your face scrunches in disdain of his compliment. You prop your back against the couch and cross your arms over your chest, averting your gaze to the TV once more. “Just drive me home,” you grumble in protest, hardly meaning it.

“No can do, sweet thing,” Eddie says with a sympathetic sigh, dropping a heavy arm around your shoulder to pull you into his chest. You melt begrudgingly into his sloppy embrace. He presses a kiss to your hair and mumbles into your temple. “‘M never letting you go, actually.”

And, despite your very obvious pouting, you pray he never breaks his promise.

[rinhaler]

I Should Just Walk Away !

His knuckles are split, what are you meant to do? Not tend his wounds? Someone’s gotta do it! It doesn’t mean you’re going to fuck him again. No way.

✧˖*°࿐: 18+ only, no minors.    ✧. ┊ underground fighter!ryomen sukuna x f!reader

Genre: porn with a plot (and a sprinkle of angst?) Notes: I'm gonna make a masterlist and stuff bc I love this au but I'm lazy pls bear with me! ♡ Warnings: 18+, fem!reader, blood ♡, wound care, daddy!kink, size difference ♡, age gap, degradation, fingering, tit sucking ♡, slight edging?, dacryphilia, m+f masturbation, car sex ♡, vaginal sex, creampie ♡, pet names (princess, sweetheart, baby, kid), mutual pining ♡, angst??, calls ur pussy she/her ♡, (lmk if i missed any!!) Words: 8k

—

Even after proclamations of love for each other, the rest of the ride home is silent and uncomfortable. In hindsight, it might not have been the best decision to divulge the truth of your tryst with Sukuna to your little brother.

You could try to reassure him. But what would be the point? You’re only a few years older than him, yet somehow, you’ve forgotten what it’s like to be a teenager. When you were Megumi’s age, though, you had parents.

They were alive.

Sure, you were somewhat rebellious but you behaved for the most part. You studied, worked hard, steered clear of ‘bad’ boys. And, as Sukuna so elegantly put it, you’re a ‘snooty doctor’. You’re thankful for that, because without that salary you’d never be able to afford subsidising your brother.

You had your parents.

But you’re all Megumi has.

It’s a little unsettling how quiet he’s actually being. You were bickering not too long ago, you’re taken aback that he seems to have no desire to continue. A fleeting thought that he might be trying to punish you enters your mind.

Your head snaps a few times to look at him, though he doesn’t do the same. There’s a little grimace on his face as he looks at you from the corner of his eyes.

It’s disgust.

“Are we okay?” you wonder, and the way it leaves your lips in a warble must be pathetic for your brother to hear. He scoffs immediately after, still outright refusing to say another word. You make sure to keep an eye on the road, though your gaze can’t help but wander towards your sibling when you get a chance. “I’m just going to make sure he’s patched up properly, okay? He’s not staying the night.”

“As if that matters.” he rolls his eyes.

It should matter. You don’t know what he means, and you don’t dare ask him to elaborate. There’s no reason for you to be scared of a seventeen-year-old. You aren’t. You’re more afraid of disappointing him.

“Megumi…” you take a breath. “It’s late. I think we should talk properly tomorrow.”

He takes a breath not too dissimilar to yours, you aren’t sure if it’s inherited or if it’s a habit he’s picked up from you. Is he mocking you? He doesn’t say much more, shrugging his shoulders is an answer all on its own. And still, it makes your heart twist as anxiety pierces through it like a stake.

“Fine.”

“Really?!” you bark out unintentionally. Maybe he’s more mature than you’ve given him credit for, because agreeing to talk properly is the last thing you expected. Your eyebrows knot briefly, and you look at him again when you reach a red light. “Are you fucking with me? You’re not serious, are you? You’re gonna sneak out in the morning and I won’t see you until—”

“I said fine. Didn’t I?” he grunts. “At least be quiet when you fuck him if you insist on lecturing me in the morning.”

“I’m not doing it again, I told you.” you assure him. “It was a stupid mistake and I regret it but I just wanna make sure his hand is okay. And then I’ll tell him to leave. I promise.”

“Should prob’ly tell him that, ‘cause he won’t stick around once he realises.” you both find yourselves looking in the rearview mirror at the man following behind you at a distance before quickly averting your eyes. “Don’t make promises you’re not gonna keep. You sound like my dad.”

“Ouch, babe. Noted.” you laugh a little despite being genuinely offended.

The rest of the journey is completed with your brain on auto-pilot. You aren’t even sure how you made it home without crashing once you realise you’ve parked perfectly in the driveway.

Megumi snatches your purse and ducks out of the car, making a beeline for the front door. You watch him as you allow your head to gently thud against the headrest behind you; he’s frantically looking for the house keys so he can shield himself from any possible sighting of you and his boss together.

He drops your purse on the ground with little care once he finds what he’s looking for, and you’re startled when you hear a knuckle lightly rap against your window.

“Nice place, princess.” he speaks, though it’s slightly muffled by the closed window.

“Stop calling me—”

“Oi. Pick up the purse.” Sukuna warns your little brother before he can hide indoors.

He looks over his shoulder at you both before slowly crouching down to pick it up. He grips it tight before finally disappearing.

Sukuna gives you room to breathe before offering a hand to help you out. Like you’ve never gotten out of your car before. Instead of taking it, you stare. You stare at his obscenely large hand and can’t help but remember his fingers had been inside of you mere moments ago.

You smile, as politely as you can, before hurriedly chasing after your brother.

He saunters after you with a lazy smirk playing on his features. You only see it when you remember you’d forgotten to lock your car. The sound of his Mercedes locking is a deafening reminder.

You enter your home; he hadn’t even bothered to turn a single light on as he charged straight towards the kitchen. You’d expected him to have locked himself in his bedroom by now. But instead, his silhouette is illuminated by the light emanating from the open fridge.

He grunts when you switch on the living room light, looking at you like a raccoon caught going through the trash as he chomps down on the cereal you’d bought on the way home from work.

“Can you get the first aid kit from the cupboard?” you ask him as you take off your coat and throw it down over the back of the couch. “You shouldn’t be eating so late, y’know.”

“I’m starving. I didn’t eat today, ‘m a growing boy, y’know.” he counters. He moves to look through each and every cupboard. He looks at you and shrugs before continuing to eat.

Your eyes are both directed to the sound of a gently closing door. You half smile at Sukuna as he enters before you look at your brother again in contemplation.

“Oh I moved it to the bathroom ‘cause we never use it.” you sigh as you make your way there. “You can finish eating in your room if you want.”

“Tryna get me out the way?” he rolls his eyes. “Don’t worry, I don’t wanna stick around here anyway.” he side eyes Sukuna as he walks with his bowl towards his room.

You don’t see the amused grin he offers your little brother while you retrieve the first aid kit.

If you had, you’re sure you would have sent him home too.

“Sorry,” you groan, setting the kit down on the coffee table. You stand with your hands on your hips as you stare at him. It’s dawning on you, now, regardless of how exhausted you are. You’ve let a man you barely know into your home. A man older and stronger than you’d ever hope to be. You’ve welcomed a criminal into the space that is meant to be the safest for your little brother.

“I’m not gonna kill ya, sweetheart.” he cuts through your thoughts as if he can read your mind. It makes your heart race, though your face remains stoic as you try and disguise your evident worry. “Last thing I wanna do is scare you, though. I’ll go if you’re—”

“No, it’s fine.” you interject. “I’m tired, though. I’m gonna get changed because I wanna go straight to sleep after this, okay? You’re not staying.”

“Shame, I had fun.” he grins, circling the couch before sinking into it. His body is angled towards you while his eye looks you up and down with purpose. “Get comfy, I’ll be right here waiting for you, darlin’.”

Even someone as headstrong as you can’t deny how giddy he makes you. You walk backwards, unable to take your eyes off him before you eventually find your bedroom. Everything he says is so intentional, it’s almost vindictive. Like he knows just what to say to have you weak at the knees for him.

But this isn’t you.

You’ve never been the type to fall for a man’s alleged charm quite so easily. But you also didn’t think you were the type of person to fuck a stranger. He isn’t exactly a stranger, though.

He’s Megumi’s boss.

“Stop calling him that.” you whisper to yourself as you try and break yourself out of your spiralling train of thought.

You dress yourself in the most unflattering pyjamas you can find, wearing them with the full expectation of turning Sukuna off of you. He can’t possibly still be angling to fuck again when he sees you in mismatched pyjamas, complete with aged holes and stains from that one spaghetti night you and Megumi attempted.

There’s a feeble attempt made at wiping your makeup off, although you barely try. Your smile is almost blinding as you look at what a mess you are. The panda eyes from your smeared eyeliner and mascara enhance your sunken eyebags. Your eyeshadow glitters across the bridge of your nose and into your hairline beside your temples. Your pretty lipstick that you’d lined so perfectly is half removed while the other half is smudged down your chin.

You emerge from your bedroom with a confidence you only ever experience when you’re at home in your comfiest clothes. Despite your appearance, and even despite your company, you’re so content.

His eyes squint as he looks at your face, and even still, he’s smiling. He chuckles softly as you get closer to him, sitting beside him as you open the first aid kit.

“You look way prettier like this, princess.” he tells you, folding his arms across his chest as he continues to stare.

“Ah! Really? You think I look prettier?” you ask sarcastically.

“No, you look awful.” he laughs. “Is this all for my benefit? I still want to fuck you, admirable attempt though.”

You shake your head and roll your eyes as he laughs a little more, and you force yourself to frown when you realise his laughter is contagious. Everything he does is so effortless; you can’t remember the last time you genuinely smiled so hard it hurt your cheeks.

His eye fixates on you as you begin to look through your little first aid kit and pick a few things to use on his knuckles.

“I’m sure you could have done this yourself,” you start as you pick up a packet of antiseptic wipes and begin to clear the blood surrounding his knuckles. “Could have gone to a walk-in place if you were really worried.”

“Of course I could. Been doing this for years, did you really believe I don’t have my own first aid kit?” he asks. “I wanted you to do it.” he confesses, though he’s no longer smiling. You don’t stop wiping away the combination of wet and crusted over blood on his hand, though you can’t help but stare back at him.

Is he trying to scare you?

“You’re unbelievable.” you tell him, quietly.

“It’s hard to do it with one hand, sweetheart. And you’re a professional, I’d have to be an idiot to do it myself.”

You look away, only to pour rubbing alcohol onto a clean wipe. He can’t help but be transfixed as he watches you, admiring how your dainty little hands are so delicate with the equipment. How your face appears so irritated as you perform tedious tasks such as this, but you do it regardless, and he thinks it’s sweet.

“You should be on my payroll,” he finally smiles again. “My private doctor.”

“No.” you shut him down.

“I forgot how stuck up you are. I thought you’d at least be fununtil tomorrow.”

“Be grateful I’m doing this at all.” you reply with ease. All enjoyment and giddiness over his company seems to be a distant memory as you recall the type of man he actually is. You’re grouchy and exhausted, and he’s testing your patience. “I don’t like you and I don’t like what you do. And I hate that you’re involving Megumi.”

“Lighten. Up.” he warns you.

You press the wipe quickly into his cuts, and you can’t help but smile as he winces from the abrupt stinging pain. You laugh harder as he tries to downplay it. His expression becomes unreadable as he tries to appear detached. You can see it in his visible eye, though. It’s watering.

He can’t help but break at the sound of your laughter, however, as you continue to snicker whilst rummaging through for a roll of gauze to wrap around his knuckles.

“I usually don’t crack when I do that myself. You wanted it to hurt.” he smirks, shaking his head.

“Guilty.” you continue to giggle as you face him again.

He doesn’t say another word as he watches you wrap a thick enough layer of bandages around his bloody knuckles. The somewhat shallow lacerations seem to cause slight discomfort despite being taken care of. You watch him, purposefully, as he flexes his fingers a few times to test how it feels.

You aren’t sure if he knows you’re staring, but his guard seems down. It could be an act to disarm you, but you aren’t convinced he’s a good enough actor to pull it off. The genuine curiosity and intrigue on his face due to your handiwork makes you feel off. Is he judging your ability to provide proper care?

It’s not like you wanted to.

But you both know that’s a lie.

He grins when he finally notices you staring at him. And that makes you relax. You were right, he was genuinely lost in thought despite being in your presence.

“You should go now,” you say quietly. You angle your body to rest your arm over the back of the couch, your balled fist supporting your head as you begin to yawn. “I’m tired.”

“Sure.” he nods, moving to stand before relaxing into the soft seating. “I need your number.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yeah, ya need to give it to me sweetheart,” he smirks, mirroring your body language. “Need it so I can tell you when I wanna see you again.”

You scoff, shaking your head defiantly at his bold claim. The thought of him clicking his fingers for you to come running like a loyal lap dog is almost enough to make you gag. You’d slap him if it wasn’t so late, you’re too tired and you don’t want to cause a fuss for Megumi or your neighbours.

“You’re never gonna see me again,” you smile, biting your lip as you look him up and down. “And you’re not seeing Megumi, either. He’s done with your little fight club. And I’m done with you, period.”

“Aren’t you meant to be smart? Concerning that a doctor could be so naïve.” he squints slightly as he regards you, looking you up and down as you had him. You’re so sure of yourself, he can’t help but wonder if you’ve forgotten about your current appearance. “I’ll be seein’ you both again. Megumi isn’t quitting. And I like you, and I’m not the type of man to give up things I like.”

“Tough shit,” you laugh lightly. “You’re gonna have to find another poor woman to pester. I’ve got enough going on without dealing with a loser like you.”

“A loser? Really?” he chortles. “You were moaning on my dick and calling me daddy earlier. Now I’m a loser?”

“Shut up.”

He leans in close to you, noses almost touching and his smile widens further as he sees how glittery your face is from your poor makeup removal. “Are you only going to be nice to me when I fuck that brat out of you?”

You turn your head away, your heart racing as your body betrays you. The want and desire bubbles in the pit of your stomach. But you can’t. You know you can’t; because you promised.

He isn’t special.

Sukuna is not special.

“You’re not fucking anything out of me.” you tell him, peering out of the corner of your eye to see him look a little surprised at your declaration. He thought you were playing hard to get. You aren’t playing. “It was a one-time thing.”

“Really?” he asks, barely missing a beat as he responds. “I don’t understand you. I thought—”

“Of course you don’t understand me. You’ve known me for a few hours. Just because we’ve fucked doesn’t mean you know me.” you remind him. And he nods, he agrees with you. He’d be a fool not to, and the man is no fool. “It was just a heat of the moment mistake. I mean it. I don’t want to see you again and I’m not letting Megumi fight anymore.”

“Why?”

“Why?” you scoff. “He’s a child. It’s dangerous. I don’t want him—”

“No, sweetheart. I’m not stupid, I know why you don’t want him to fight anymore. Do I look like a moron to you?” he asks, voice gruff and harsh as he interrupts without a care. His temper is visible and rising as he begins to run out of patience for your attitude with him. “Why don’t you want to see me?”

“Because you’re shady and I don’t want to upset my brother. He’s already upset, I don’t want to make it worse.”

“That’s not a reason.”

“Excuse m—”

“That’s a reason why Megumi doesn’t want you to see me. Yeah I’m a little shady, but you like me. I know you do. Otherwise you wouldn’t have let me come over here, see where and how you live, and tend my wounds like a good girl.” he sneers.

“Fine. I don’t like you and I don’t want to have a platonic relationship with a criminal. Let alone a romantic one. What happened earlier was a mistake.”

“… You’re lying.” he says, and it’s curt. You cross your arms over your chest and shake your head with an amused laugh as you digest his denial. How he can sit there and act so full of himself when you’re being perfectly clear is beyond you. It’s jarring.

You jolt as you feel thick fingers lightly grip your jaw. Your wandering gaze is now brought to him. Your eyes forced to fixate on the placid expression plastered across chiselled features.

“I see you, princess. You don’t wanna see me because you want to get mixed up with a criminal, and you’re scared of that. I see you.”

You stare at him, licking your lips not so discreetly as he continues to cradle your jaw. His lips curl at the sight of the little pink muscle slipping between your lips to wet them. You’re angry. Furious at yourself for letting him touch you, hold you, like this. And you hate yourself, right now. Maybe even more than you hate him, too.

Because he’s right.

Your lack of action gives him cause to stare down at your shimmering lips, it’s a warning. A silent announcement for what he’s about to do. He doesn’t let go, but his head tilts. He leans in closer to you, daring to give you what you both know you want.

And again, he’s thwarted.

You turn away, unable to look at him right after this time.

“… You should go, now.” you tell him.

He sighs, but pulls away. You almost mewl as his thumb softly swipes across your chin. And when he withdraws it, you feel your body fill with loneliness. Your skin feels colder.

And it hurts, because he’s on the right track. You’re pushing him away because of Megumi. But deep down, as much as you crave him right now, you know it’s the right thing to do. You jolt a little as he abruptly stands up from the couch, the breeze from his movement makes you freeze.

He sees it.

“Go to bed, you’ll warm up.” he says bluntly before making his way towards the front door. He stops as he grabs the handle, holding up his bloodied knuckles. “Thank you, for the first aid.”

“It’s… it’s fine. No problem. Goodnight, S-Sukuna.” you say, cursing yourself for the audible whine in your words despite your attempted conviction. You watch him as he grabs the handle before turning to face you again.

“Come with me.” he tells you, curling the tip of his index finger. “I need to give you something, don’t argue. For once.” he demands.

You’re compelled to follow, in spite of his demeaning way of summoning you. You truly don’t want him to leave, you don’t want him to go, so any extra time you can spend with him, you’ll take.

He walks ahead of you, leaving you shivering in the doorway as you try and preserve any warmth you can. He opens the door to his car and turns around, a little bewildered that you aren’t right behind him. It makes you giggle to see him look around in search of you before he finally spots you still at the front door.

“Come here.”

You close the door and rush to his side, quickly looking back to make sure Megumi isn’t looking for you. He rests his arm atop the roof of his Mercedes, before holding out a small piece of paper between his fingers to you.

It’s a business card.

“What kind of thug needs a business card?” you ask before you even think about what you’re saying. He scoffs, squinting at you.

“You’ve only fucked me once, you don’t know me.” he smirks. And at that, you can’t help but laugh. “What you said… makes it seem like we’ll learn more about each other if we keep fucking.”

“I don’t want to know you, Sukuna.” you sigh, reluctant to keep up the charade. Reluctant to keep pretending he doesn’t excite you. To keep pretending the few hours you’ve spent with him haven’t been the liveliest your life has been in years. Maybe ever, really. “I can’t be selfish, you don’t get it.”

“You’d be surprised.” he says, abruptly. “Why did you follow me out here if you don’t want to know me?”

“Because you asked me to, you said you wanted to give me something���”

“You could have said no. Do you always do what people tell you? You wanted to. I wanted you to. And now you’re here, you have my number. If you want to be selfish… you know where I am.”

“I don’t—” you sigh, shivering aggressively before you push his card back into his chest. “I don’t need this.”

He grabs your wrist hellbent on sending you away with this one little piece of the puzzle of his life. A way to talk to him again if you change your mind. He’s giving you access, he wants you to take it, desperately.

He crouches down, levelling his head with your own so his one, uncovered eye is levelled with yours. He can’t help but smile, it’s almost maniacal, as he watches your resolve falter under his glare.

“You’re too stubborn for your own good, kid.” he grins. “And you’re not all that smart, for a doctor.”

Your face burns with heat. And you can’t tell if it’s rage or lust. Do you want to kiss him or kill him? You don’t know, you don’t know. His smile grows wider as he realises what he’s done to you. Your faces are so close to each other and this time you can’t will yourself to turn away. You can’t submit, not after this.

“I’m smarter than you.” is all you can think to say. It feels pathetic and phoned in. And he reads it, too, by the ever-growing look of amusement on his face.

“I don’t doubt that.” he nods. “What’s got you all hot ‘n bothered, hm? ‘Cause I called you a dumb li’l doctor? Or ‘cause daddy, called you kid?”

You feel your face sear further. So much so you can even detect each and every drop of sweat beading at your hairline. You’d forgotten it was freezing outside, instead trying to find a way to subtly cool yourself.

“You d-didn’t even call me dumb. I’m not.” you say, stuttering over yourself like a true idiot as you try and gain some semblance of composure through this agonising conversation.

He closes the already small distance between you, placing his hand on the small of your back and pulling you towards him. Your eyes flutter closed under his as he examines you. His head tilting and turning, forcing himself in your line of view.

“I am learning more about you. Should we fuck about it, sweetheart?”

“What are you—”

“Do I remind you of your old man, hah? I bet that’s it… was daddy never proud of you?” he chuckles darkly, carding his fingers through your hair as he stares down at you. “S’that why you like me, darlin?”

“Shut up.” you respond, voice meek and pathetic as you wrestle with your will and want. His fingers lace through your hair, delicately holding the crown of your head before you find yourself being pulled closer still. His lips ghost yours, and he’s a tease. He’s such a fucking tease.

“Got a thing for older guys who talk to you like shit… I see it. Get too much respect at your little doctor job all day. Do you like being talked down to, hm? No wonder you like a thug like me.”

“You don’t know what you’re— You d-don’t even know.”

“Yeah? I don’t?” he asks, his tone melodious and teasing. His head tilts back, the feel of his lips intensely teasing yours soon broken as he does. But you look up to him, eyes full of anguish and sorrow like a kicked puppy who doesn’t know what it wants. You hate him and the reason is clear.

You don’t hate him at all.

You just hate that he’s right.

“I think I’m right. I think you’ve got daddy issues, and you like it when I call you kid.” you turn away as he speaks. But almost as quickly as you do, he’s forcing you to look at him again. His ruby eye flaring, an expression all of its own. A warning, a look of command. A look of lust. “Am I right, baby? Is your little cunt soaked ‘cause I call you kid?”

“… I have to go.” you say, quietly.

“Sure.” he smirks.

A sense of déjà vu overwhelms you as you recognise in his smile that you’ve done this dance before. You can’t move and you can’t speak. There is no desire in you to leave him now and return to your home, your bed, like you should.

All you can do is stare. Your eyes fixated on the man who has just read you like a book. His amused expression doesn’t falter. He’s patient, surprisingly. You wouldn’t have painted him as a man with patience. But looking at him now, you know he’d be willing to wait all night if he had to. He’d wait for the sun to rise just to prove a point.

But he doesn’t need to.

You lunge forward, your hand cupping his face as you break the boiling tension between you and seal your acceptance with a scalding kiss.

He won.

He told you before, he doesn’t lose.

Your lips suctioning and pecking at his would make you embarrassed if you weren’t so desperate. He welcomes it, too, meeting yours with just as much urgency. He wraps his arms around your back as you slip your tongue between his lips, allowing them to tangle and swirl in a passionate encounter.

He chuckles into it as you curse. Curse him, curse his name. You can’t believe he’s reduced you to this, again. Your heart heaves in your chest, and you break away just to instruct him.

“Open the fucking back door.”

He laughs again, keeping hold of you as he guides you in a way he can carry on kissing you and still do as he’s told. He ducks in first, pulling you in with him right after. You grind your hips against his heavy bulge as he closes the door after you. He looks up to admire you, to adore you.

“You smeared your makeup like a fucking idiot so I wouldn’t fuck you,” he laughs. “And look at you, humping my cock like a desperate little pet.”

“Shiiiit, I forgot I’m a mess.” you sigh, though you don’t really care. You wrap your arms around his neck, keening as his heavy palms grip your thighs press you flush against his body. “This is the last time. I m-mean it.”

“Whatever you say, princess.” he says, smugly.

You dismiss it, too enamoured by the feeling of his bulge alone as you continue to grind down hard and purposefully onto him. He’s relaxed, allowing you to take the lead and go at your own pace.

It’s embarrassing, really, you’re not as experienced as he seems to be. He’s older. And you hate to admit it, wiser. When it comes to encounters such as this, anyway. You’re smart and well read, sure, but casual hook ups are foreign to you.

You’ll keep that to yourself for as long as you can, you can’t think of anything worse than giving Sukuna that little tidbit of information about you. That he is only the third guy you’ve fucked.

He hit the nail on the head back at the club, but you can’t let him know that.

“Let me feel.” he mutters. His hand holds your hip to keep you in place. Another snakes down into your sleep shorts, his mouth falls open with an amused chuckle as he touches you. “Still full’a me, baby. Bet I’ll slide right in.”

His fingers play with your pussy without any real goal. And still, it makes you delirious. He smears the evidence of your previous tryst around your folds, and he watches with conviction as his fingers circle your clit.

He withdraws them, briefly, to move your shorts into the crease of your thigh. You watch him, and he doesn’t take his eye off you, either. Your lower lip droops as you admire him. Truthfully, you’ve never been in the presence of someone so domineering as him. He is the true definition of a red-blooded male.

Sukuna is huge. In the literal sense, he is unnaturally tall. His build is enormous, his hand is larger than your face. But his aura alone is enough to fill an entire room with an ambience that he sees fit. He could instil fear into the minds of men just because he wills it.

Unfortunately for you, you are not immune to his will.

“You’re so pent up darlin’, you must work hard. Y’need to relax… no wonder you can’t keep your hands off me.” he says. It could be read as demeaning. You think it should be. And yet, you don’t detect any malice from him. He makes a show of spitting on his fingers, keeping eye contact with you as the ‘ptuh’ sound leaves his lips. It makes you shudder.

Though when he touches you with such purpose, so lewdly, a whine you never knew you could make leaves your lungs. He looks up at you like you hung every star in the sky as he pumps his fingers in and out of you. The ‘shlick’ suctioning sounds of your already tainted walls couldn’t possibly be any louder.

He sees how embarrassed you are, but he doesn’t care. Your nose crinkles and your eyes close softly. He curls his fingers and his palm flattens against your clit. And you cry out for him, lurching forward as you wrap your arms around his head rather than his neck. He’s surprised to see your hips rock against his touches, riding his fingers like it’s the only contact you’ve ever known.

His free hand reaches up to tug down your vest. His tongue is flat and wide as he sticks it out to lick your bare tits. He isn’t rough, he isn’t aggressive, he isn’t rushing. He sensually swirls his tongue over your nipples, breathing heavily on occasion before he kisses them. You whimper when he sporadically skims his teeth across them. There’s no bite. No effort. He just wants to hear you cry for him like that. It’s like his teeth are barely there, just enough that you know they are.

“Do you touch yourself?” he mumbles against your skin. You can’t bear to look at him after hearing that. You pretend you didn’t, moaning louder as a diversion. It’s fruitless, and apparently you aren’t a good actress. He yanks your hair and forces you to look at him. His fingers stop, and your body writhes from the loss. “Don’t do that again. Answer me.”

“S-Sukuna…” you fuss. The feeling of your building pleasure being torn away from you is making you stupid. It’s pathetic. And yet, in spite of how humiliating it is, you’re still rolling your hips in a bid to get the feeling back. His expression falters to one you can’t read. You think it’s annoyance, but it’s so detached and expressionless. You yelp as he withdraws his fingers completely, with no time to feel the loss when he grabs your face with his slick-coated hand.

“I want to know if you make your pretty pussy cum after a hard day at work.” he says calmly, a low rumble in his chest as the words roll plainly from his tongue. Your eye contact falters as you notice him pulling at his sweatpants in search of his aching length. “And I want you to show me how you touch her. So go on, answer my question.”

“I… I—” you stumble. You watch him intensely as he frees his throbbing cock. He wraps his fist around himself and lazily strokes. He still glares at your features. While you’re utterly captivated by his cock.

It looks so angry. Too pretty and perfect to be real, you think. But somehow, it is. You think he’d be better suited as a porn star than a criminal with an asset like that. He spends an extra second squeezing his length just below the tip when he strokes himself, it’s like he’s ringing all of the pre out that he can. It dribbles out of his slit, coating his tip the more he summons. It’s beguiling.

You suppose you hadn’t really had a chance to admire him back at the club. It was so heated and hasty. Now, it’s purposeful. You look at his face again when you realise this is what he wants. He wanted you to look at how he touches himself and how gorgeous his cock is. He wants you to see how big he is and how much he aches and throbs when he needs to be buried in a sweet little cunt.

He wants the memory of this to stain your mind.

“I d-don’t.” you confess. “Not much… I’m always tired. Busy.”

“Mhmm… I can tell.” he nods, his voice is somewhat sympathetic. “Come here, princess. Sit on it.”

His hand grips into your hip while he lines himself up with your entrance. You don’t fight him, you don’t hesitate. You let him push you down, you eagerly suck him in. Your eyes roll back as you feel him swell through your walls. Even after taking him earlier, you’d forgotten how monstrous he feels inside. And this time, somehow, he feels bigger.

“Fu-uck,” you gasp as his tip immediately nudges at your sweet spot. You hold his shoulders and hope he’ll assist you. The thought of disappointing him makes you anxious. The idea of him knowing how inexperienced you really are makes you sick.

He throws his head back as your hole swallows him greedily. He looks at you through a heavy-lidded stare, and relief fills you as his hands grab the fat of your ass. You moan pathetically as he spreads them. But his ultimate goal is to bounce you on his cock. You feel weightless in his hands as he helps you. Each steep drop down onto his length makes your throat tight.

He's there.

You feel him there.

“Play with yourself, go on. Rub her f’me.” he says lethargically.

And your face feels like fire. The foreplay was gasoline and his command is a match. And yet, out of fear of him withholding pleasure from you again, you comply. Your hand slithers between your thighs and you do all you can to pretend you’re elsewhere.

You try and pretend you’re in your room, in your bed. What usually gets you going is a mildly heated scene from a movie or TV show. The sexual tension of an almost kiss makes your face flush, though a lot less than it is now. And you think it’s unbearable to witness sexual tension and not see any resolve, so you scamper to find a video online to suit your needs. Something quick and short as you reach into your nightstand to find your favourite toy.

The thought of being caught by your brother makes you sick so you have to be fast with it. The website you ordered it from assured the toy would be whisper quiet. And you can only hope it’s true. You don’t touch yourself, not without aid. And even then, it’s sparse. You haven’t rubbed your clit with your own fingers in years.

Years of being riled up and having a useless boyfriend who didn’t know what he was doing lead you to finishing yourself off each and every time. And you knew, the moment you got a job and your own income, you’d buy yourself a vibrator.

It’s hard to pretend Sukuna isn’t here, though. It’s hard to pretend you’re in your room with Netflix playing quietly enough in the background it can still cover the sound of soft core moaning from your phone while you vibrate yourself to completion.

Because his cock fills your each and every thought. Every sense you possess is dominated by him. The feel of him stretching you out beyond your limit and repeatedly hitting your sweet spot. The sound of the sticky tacking of his length as he slams you up and down on his pulsing member.

Your vision alternates between his gorgeous gaze and the point where your bodies connect again and again. Your pussy gushes slick and the evidence of your prior combined coupling stains your inner thighs and his crotch.

The scent of your sex fills the car and the heat of your sweaty bodies exacerbates it. Your skin is damp, as is his. And it’s overwhelming. He groans into a chuckle as you moan louder and louder for him. If anyone happens to be awake at this ungodly hour, they’ll no doubt hear you. If anyone looks out of the window, they’ll see how the car rocks back and forth. It turns you on further. The tang of sweat and arousal filling the car. It makes you lightheaded.

“I can— fuck— c-can taste you, daddy…” you whine. He urges you to fall forward so he can kiss you. It forces you to take over, moving your hips on your own as you try and maintain your building pleasure. “You’re too big… can feel you in my throat, Sukuna… tastes so good.”

“Dirty fuckin’ girl.” he smirks, kissing you again. “You’re fuckin’ filthy. Not the good girl you pretend to be, hah?”

You nod, agreeing. He’s right, after all. You’re talking in a way you didn’t know you had in you. He takes over again, holding your rear so he can take full control of your body. He guides you repeatedly until your eyes cross from the pleasure. Your walls tighten, and your throat feels hoarse as you cry out for him.

“Squeezin’ me so fuckin’ tight, kid. Don’t be shy. Cum for daddy.” he encourages you.

You cry, at that. Falling forwards to envelop him in your arms as you come undone. He coos, sweetly, kissing your cheeks and licking away your tears. The feeling isn’t lost on you, the feeling of disgust. You’ve never felt happiness or value like you did just now. Realising how right he was about your issues and using them to subdue you.

Your pussy gushes and he moans further, chest roaring as he finally lets his sight drop to see what a pretty mess you’ve made of yourself.

Made of him.

Made for him.

He pushes his thumb into your clit and rubs quickly, further extending your pleasure through it all. You could just about cum again when you feel him shoot another load into you, his warmth filling your womb for the second time today. It makes you feel special. It makes you feel loved.

The very idea of it has you pushing yourself away from him desperately. But he holds you close. His moans are boisterous and uncaring. It’s loud enough to wake the whole neighbourhood, you think. And at the very least, you’re sure Megumi will hear if he doesn’t have his headphones on.

His arms wrap tightly around your waist to keep you in place, his feet planted firmly on the floor of the car as he fucks himself into you. He’s sure to empty every last drop into your cunt, his balls slap against your ass as he ploughs into you furiously.

And when he stops, you freeze. You feel cold. You feel filthy.

He doesn’t discard you or try to kick you out. The opposite, really. He’s still holding you close, lightly peppering your chilled skin with kisses. Eventually stopping to rest his head on your chest. He feels you try to move away, but he only holds you tighter.

So you stop trying to leave. And instead, you run your fingers through his hair. He hums contently, at that. And you feel your heart pound harder, a little smile works its way onto your face.

Maybe he’s not so bad.

That thought alone makes you stop. He looks up at you, his stare soft and gentle as he wonders what made you halt your actions so abruptly. Before he can ask what’s wrong, you move to leave.

“I have to go, I really have to go now.” you say bluntly. He huffs, watching as you scramble to put your clothes back in place, clambering off him in a hurry. He doesn’t say anything in response. He watches as you scramble to open the door. Tears of panic begin to fall as you struggle to open it, you frantically pull and push as you try to get away. He leans over, and with little effort, he opens the door for you.

“Goodbye.” he says, simply.

“G-Goodbye.” you respond, ducking out and briskly walking to your front door.

You take a deep breath when you get there, preparing for the possibility that Megumi is about to greet you and bite your head off. Sukuna doesn’t move. He stays in the back seat and watches you with a sombre expression. With no inclination of what happened to change your mood, he can only assume he stepped out of line.

He doesn’t want to leave just yet. At least not until he knows you’re safely inside.

As you grab the handle of the door and push, your heart sinks.

“No, no, no… d-don’t do this to me now.” you sob, hysterically fiddling and pushing the door. You stupidly think that you just need to try harder and it will open. But no such thing comes to pass. You’ve locked yourself out.

Sukuna sits upright when he realises, watching as you slowly turn to look at him. His hand folds, gesturing for you to come closer. And with no other option, you do. Your phone is inside as well as your car keys. You can’t text Megumi to tell him what you’ve done. And even if you could, he’d only come outside to see that you’ve let him down. Again.

“Silly girl.” he says, looking at you with a weak smile when you finally approach. You duck down to look at him, not willing to get inside with him. “Do you want to come to my place? I’ll bring you back in the morning.” he suggests.

“I’m not fucking—”

“You can stay in a different room.” he answers your obvious assumption with a reasonable response. And still…

“N-No. I don’t want to go to your house.”

“Then I guess we’re sleeping in the car. Come on.” he sighs. He waits until you get in, begrudgingly, and then gets out himself. You watch him as he circles to the trunk of his car, looking ahead at your home as you wait for him to return. And he does, with a large, fur blanket.

“Why do you have this?” you wonder.

“I don’t remember. You better not be complaining, sweetheart. You’re lucky I didn’t fuck off right after I came like I usually do. Especially after that little performance.”

“Performance?!” you yell. You position yourself as far away from him as you can in the confined space, sitting as closely to the door as you can. “You just don’t get it! At all.”

“You’ve made that clear, princess. Don’t worry. I’ll steer clear when you get back inside tomorrow. I’m too old to be playing stupid games with little girls who don’t know what they want.”

You huff, covering your legs with the blanket before folding your arms.

“I told you it was a mistake.” you correct him. “I told you I didn’t want to see you or do that again.”

“Shut up.” he shakes his head. “Just go to sleep and we’ll never have to see each other again. Because that’s what you want, yes?”

You pause before speaking. Images of his delicate expression in your arms haunt you. You’d overreacted because of your own cowardice. Because of a promise you evidently had no intention of keeping. It wasn’t a performance. It was just… fear.

“Yes.” you tell him. Your response is bold and scathing.

He doesn’t react, he merely shrugs, adjusting the blanket over his own legs, too. His arms cross over his chest, and his head rests against the window. You can’t see beyond his eye covering, but you assume his visible eye is closed.

You do the same, hoping you fall asleep sooner rather than later.

You’re wrong, though.

His eye is open wide, looking upwards to the light polluted sky. There are a few stars visible, three. He stares at them, thinking about the events of the evening. He hadn’t expected to end up fucking once tonight let alone twice. But when you walked into his club and tried to give him a piece of your mind, he knew.

He knew he’d have to have you.

And he hadn’t expected to be so lucky so have you again, like this. But he can’t put his finger on why things went so sour. It could be one thing or a number of things. He has ideas. He thinks your less complicated than you seem to think you are. You’re keeping him at arm’s length, and that, he understands.

He’s a stranger, but he doesn’t have to be.

He doesn’t want to be.

But what can he do?

He’ll just stare at the stars until he drifts off to sleep.

Maybe things will be different in the morning.

—

© 2024 rinhaler

—

chapter one | m.list | chapter three

[frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe]

@steddiemas Day 21 -  Home and/or Dinner

pairing: steddie | word count: 1,333 | rated: G

“For real this time.”

Steve’s words pull his eyes off that stupid sprig of greenery and back down to his face, but his brain is still sprinting laps in his head, “For real? Who put—? When did—?”

“Eddie.”

He takes a couple seconds to slow his brain down into a jog. “Yeah?”

“I’m being serious. I want to kiss you. Please.”

“....If this is a pity thing–” Eddie’s stomach twists at the thought.

“It’s not a pity thing.” Steve assures in a soft voice, trailing his hand down the wrist he’d taken hold of to link his fingers with Eddie’s. “I want to kiss you because you’re you and because I’ve wanted to for a while now.”

Okay…he seems genuine enough.

“And also it’s a little bit of a pity thing.” Steve grins good-naturedly.

“Ugh!” Eddie groans, dropping his face into his free hand.

“I just want to be 100% honest.” Steve laughs, “And if I’m being 100% honest, I put this one here, not Robin. And I followed you out here to make sure you were okay and also maybe to get another chance to kiss you.”

Eddie lifts his head and his eyes narrow, studying Steve’s face. His expression seems sincere; serious with an undercurrent of humor to it. His lips twitch too, like his mouth is having a hard time not smiling at him.

“Then you just had to get all sad and mopey on me.” Steve teases.

It breaks through Eddie’s wariness the rest of the way, surprisingly, and he bursts out in cackles.

“What?” Steve asks, laughing slightly with the word, but his smile is wary around the edges.

“Nothing, nothing, I just,” Eddie chuckles again, “Nothing. Yeah, sure, lay one on me, big boy.”

Steve squints at him skeptically.

“What?”

“I’m not gonna if you still think this is some big joke.”

“Well forgive me if the man of my dreams asking to kiss me is a bit of a hard concept to grasp.” 

The younger man is silent for a moment, though now his eyes are wide.

“What? Why do you keep staring at me?”

“I’m the man of your dreams?”

Oh fuck.

“Uh.. No. I lied, I was only fucking with you, I—”

Steve steps closer and raises a hand to Eddie’s face, brushing the backs of his knuckles along his cheek.

He studies him closely, eyes locked onto his own.

His hand slips off his face to place his palm at the side of Eddie’s neck, his fingers lacing into the hairs at the back of his neck.

“I’m going to kiss you now.”

“Okay.” Eddie gulps.

When their lips connect, everything else falls away.

Steve’s lips are soft on his, and the tip of his nose is freezing cold where it’s pressed into Eddie’s cheek, making him gasp.

Steve takes the opportunity to slide his tongue between Eddie’s lips, only the tiniest touch of their tongues feels electric.

“Steve,” Eddie sighs.

“Mmm..?” it’s more of a soft moan than an acknowledgment, and the sound shoots all the way down Eddie’s spine and into his gut.

“Mhm,” Eddie says in response, locking their mouths together, then after another moment he hums again. “Hm, wait, your nose is freezing!” he pulls away with a smile, looking across the almost non-existent gap between their faces at Steve’s expression.

His eyes are blown wide, his cheeks and nose are red along with his lips, from the cold and from Eddie’s obviously insane levels of kissing prowess.

“You think I care about that right now?” Steve asks, diving back in for more.

Who’s Eddie to tell him what to care about?

“Ah ha!” Robin’s sudden yell, even through the glass, startles them apart. The long blinds on either side of her ripple away from where she’s got two of them parted at the door.

“Jesus H. Christ, Robin!”

“What the hell?!”

She slides the door open and points accusingly at Steve, “You told him straight to his face “Now we’re even.” the last time mistletoe happened, and he still let you kiss him for real??”

“Wait, wha–”

“Oh yeah... Damn it Steve, why’d you let me kiss you like that? I’m still mad at you for Melvald’s.” Eddie says, teasingly pushing Steve further away from him.

“Kiss me?! I kissed you!”

He waves this off, “Semantics.” 

Steve just rolls his eyes in response. “Come on; you’re right, I’m freezing my ass off out here.” He squeezes between the two of them and through the open door.

Eddie turns his gaze to Robin instead, who’s grinning widely at him already. “Congratulations, Doofus, you got Dingus to make a move.”

“Good thing too; I don’t think I would have made one myself.”

“We know.”

“We? Who’s we—”

“You comin’ Eds?” Steve calls, already in the dining room.

“Yeah, yep, absolutely.” he scoots past a still very smug Robin and follows the sound of Steve’s voice.

Oh no. He can sense a pattern forming.

“Steve?” Most of the rest of the guests are piled in the far half of the room, the living room half. Lucas is in the dining half, and gives him a knowing smile while he slides a huge bowl of mashed potatoes into the center of the huge dining table.

“In here, Eds.” Steve calls from the kitchen.

“I don’t wanna hear it, Sinclair,” Eddie points threateningly, half-heartedly, at the teen.

He hears Lucas’ response as he ducks out of the room into the hall “I didn’t say anything, Eds.”

Wayne and Hopper are on one end of the island when he enters, though he doesn’t notice until after he’s placed himself at Steve’s side.

“D’ya need help Stevie?” he asks Steve’s back(side) while he pulls the now-baked pie from the oven.

“Nope, I’m good Ed.” he turns, and places the dish onto the island carefully. Eddie closes the oven for him anyway.

“It looks great, sweetheart,” He says, leaning close to Steve’s side, “I was worried it’d be too many blueberries.”

Steve opens his mouth to say something, but is interrupted by Hopper’s low voice.

“You boys better be careful, now.”

Eddie jumps back immediately, his eyes darting to Wayne.

Wayne is shaking his head fondly. “Took the words righ’ outta my mouth, Chief.” he says, going back to what he was doing (which was carving the turkey apparently; how’d he not notice that?).

He glances back at Steve (oh yeah, that’s why), who’s own panicked look is sliding off his face.

“Yes sir, Mr. Chief Hopper, sir.” he says, his eyes returning to Hopper’s amused expression.

“Where’s the formality coming from?” Steve leans in to say in a not-so-hushed whisper. 

Eddie not-whispers back in the same tone. “I dunno, the guy’s basically your dad isn’t he?” 

Wayne and Hopper laugh, and soon, there’s a herd of teens flooding into the kitchen to steal fingerfuls of the bird.

“Get yer damn hands outta my turkey, you little—”

“But we’re hungry Uncle Wayne, come on.”

“I said no, Mike, now go help set the table or something. Shit’s already done so it’s almost time, yea?”

Even with how large of a table it is, more chairs and another table had to be added to accommodate everyone. A couple folding tables and chairs, and the smaller ‘event’ table from the Harringtons’ fancy finished basement were hauled out, and the giant double-wide table is covered with tablecloths, with plates, and with piles and piles of food.

The chairs fill in in no time, and Eddie finds himself smushed between Jeff and Steve on one side of the table, Robin’s on Steve’s other side, of course, and Dustin and Claudia are across from him next to Wayne. 

He’s surrounded by his friends and family, the food is great, Wayne’s definitely being flirted with by Ms. Henderson, and Eddie’s hand is resting on Steve’s leg under the table, or across the back of his chair, or their legs are pressed together…

It’s the best Christmas dinner he’s had in years.

THEY KISSED FOR REAL!! I'M KICKING MY FEET AND GIGGLING RN!!!

other parts! Pt. 1 (Day 1) | Pt. 2 (Day 2) | Pt. 3 (Day 5) | Pt. 4 (Day 6) | Pt. 5 (Day 7) | Pt. 6 (Day 11) | Pt. 7 (Day 13) | Pt. 8 (Day 18) | Pt. 9 (Day 21) [YOU ARE HERE] | Pt. 10 (Day 25) also on AO3! this year

[valerileygreen]

Arthur used to believe his destiny was written in the stars. More specifically, he believed the stars were his destiny, ever since he first learned about them and fell in love.

He was just a little boy when his father first took him stargazing, showing him the constellations and telling him the stories behind them. That night Arthur learned about a brilliant star named Arcturus, and maybe it was just how similar their names were but he felt a connection. He thought it was a sign.

The memory comes back to Arthur now, as he’s tucked safely against Eames’ side (finally, finally) in the aftermath of inception, with Eames’ fingers gently tracing the outline of his tattoo.

“I wouldn’t have pegged you for the tattoo type, darling.” Eames breaks the blissful silence between them.

“I'm not really.” Arthur shrugs non-committally. “There's just the one.” 

“Oh yes, I’m well aware of that, pet, rest assured. What does it mean?”

And Arthur feels suddenly uncharacteristically shy, which seems incongruous at this point, with Eames. Eames, who is inarguably the person who knows him best now, but maybe that’s the point. For all he knows about him, Eames doesn’t know this part of Arthur, the bright-eyed little boy who fell in love with the stars. It’s a part of him that feels so distant and yet so intimate, and Arthur feels weirdly protective of that boy that was him, that still is him in some way. So he deflects. He shifts his head a little and raises an eyebrow, trying for nonchalance. “It’s just a constellation.”

But of course, he knows that Eames would never be fooled, his reluctance in full display for the forger’s sharp eyes to catch. If anything, it’s only going to fuel his interest, turning a passing curiosity into an intriguing mystery. 

“Yeah, I can see that, thank you very much.” Eames states somewhat sarcastically. “But why? Knowing you, you didn’t just get it for the heck of it. Unless you were just young and stupid.” A shit-eating smirk spreads on Eames’ face. “Oh, it's that, innit? Darling, you sho- Ow!” 

A well-aimed swat to the stomach cuts him off. “Shut up Eames!”

“I'm just saying, it's nothing to be embarrassed about. I have a couple of those myself.”

Arthur snorts. “Why am I not surprised? But no, I was just young. Impulsive maybe. But I don't regret it. It’s a good token.”

“Ah, so there is a reason behind it.” Eames smiles, still with a teasing lilt in his tone, satisfied. But then he must read something on Arthur’s face, because he turns serious, tightening his arm around his shoulders a bit, as if to ease the tension seeping in, his voice softer. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, you know?”

Arthur knows it. He knows that if he says he doesn’t want to talk about it Eames would respect it and back down, for now at least. And part of him wants to go along with it, they’ve just gotten together, it’s too soon to reveal so much about themselves, no matter how harmless it is, and he’s not sure if he’s ready for that kind of vulnerability yet. On the other hand, this here is just the culmination of years of getting to know each other, flirting and dancing around each other, and after everything they went through together there’s no one he trusts more, in or out of dreamshare. And, he thinks, if he wants something more to come out of this, maybe he should take a little leap of faith.

He takes a deep breath and smiles slightly. “No, it’s okay. It’s a bit silly really. This is a constellation named Bootes.” At Eames’ low inquiring sound he huffs a short laugh. “I suppose it may not be one of the best known in itself, but it has a star…” Arthur shifts to point at a spot in his tattoo. “See this big star here? Its name is Arcturus and it's the fourth brightest star in the sky.”

“Arcturus? Oh. Oh, darling, are you telling me you have your own star in the sky?”

Arthur can’t help the light blush spreading on his face, that was actually kind of the point. “No. No, it's not like that. It just- it speaks to me. I got the tattoo just before the Army. I wanted something to remind myself that it was just temporary, that there was more to the world and I shouldn't stop dreaming. And, name or not, Arcturus is my favourite star.” He shakes his head wistfully. “It’s ironic in retrospect.”

“Maybe a little bit. But I think it worked splendidly, don't you? Look at you now, dreaming for work. Your younger self would be proud.” Eames muses while running his hand through Arthur’s wild hair. 

“Mm, perhaps.” Arthur concedes, slowly but surely melting to Eames’ touch. “I just like astronomy, really. Enough to entertain the idea of making a career out of it at a point. But then life happened. The war happened, and Project Somnacin happened. And here we are.”

“Here we are. And what a bloody good place is here.” Eames grins.

Arthur gives a contented sigh. “It really is.” 

“So, while we’re in the mood, care to tell me more about your star?”

Arthur hesitates just a fraction of a moment, but Eames just keeps looking at him as if really interested and petting his hair, and so he relaxes fully. While still a little self-conscious at first, he grows more excited as he loses himself in the story. He tells Eames everything he knows about it and its myths; that Arcturus means ‘Guardian of the Bear’, the Ursa Major; that Bootes is the Herdsman driving that same constellation around the North Pole. 

Eames is utterly fascinated by this adorably nerdy side of Arthur, always so practical and in control but finally letting himself loose with him. It feels precious, and Eames feels a surge of fondness as Arthur tries and mostly fails to explain his bond with those stars. He knows though.

“You may deny it, but I believe it really is your star, you know. It fits who and what you are perfectly. You’re naturally protective, and as a pointman it's practically in your job prescription to plan and guide and direct and take care of your team, like Bootes and Arcturus do for the Bear.”

Arthur freezes in surprise, but then a slow smile lights up his face as all the dots connect, and he kisses Eames. 

“Does this mean you’ll take me see the real Arcturus soon?” Eames asks with a laugh after breaking the kiss.

Arthur beams as he answers. “It’s a date.”

Bootes, the Herdsman. Arcturus the Guardian. Arthur the Pointman. Arthur’s destiny was always written in the stars.

[teamfreewill-imagine]

I Know Your Wife (She Wouldn’t Mind) - Part Fifty-Eight

Summary: Paparazzi meet you and Jared exiting the hotel, forcing your hand at announcing your pregnancy Words: 2.8k  Jared x Reader x Gen  Warnings: pregnancy, mild angst

IKYW Masterpost

You blinked your eyes open the next morning, a content smile on your face, to find Jared already awake and watching you.

“What’re you doing, weirdo?” you asked, making him laugh softly and sit up.

“You looked so peaceful,” he reasoned, stretching his neck from side to side.

You hummed, smiling up at him.

“Doesn’t sound like me at all,” you joked, and he rolled his eyes as he got out of bed. “Where are you going?”

“Gonna shower,” he told you, unabashedly naked as he found his spare clothes in his bag. “You’re welcome to join.”

“In a minute,” you told him, breaking off into a yawn. “Gotta wake up first.”

“Sure,” he smiled, crawling over to you to kiss you softly before making his way through to the bathroom.

"You're really hot!" you called after him, hearing his laugh over the sound of water hitting tiles. "I'm serious. A great looking guy."

"It's good to know you're with me for the right reasons," he shot back, appearing in the doorway with his hands holding the frame, flexing his arms deliberately to make you grin.

"You're literally the sexiest man I've ever met," you assured him, getting out of bed to find your own clothes for the day.

You'd pulled on a long tee to sleep, but you still felt Jared's eyes tracking your ass as you bent to search through your bag.

"You're not so bad, yourself," he told you, making you laugh again as you backed him into the generous bathroom.

You put your clothes next to his on the counter before running your hands up his chest and over his shoulders.

"I'll remind you of that in a few weeks when I can't fit through a doorway," you jibed.

He shook his head, hands instantly going to your ever-growing bump.

"You're still hot when you're pregnant," he assured you, encouraging you to take your sleep shirt off.

"You've only seen me pregnant with one baby at twenty," you reminded him, pulling your top off and heading for the shower. "Now it's two at twenty-four."

"Yeah, and you're still gonna be sexy as hell," he promised, following you in. "I'm always gonna think you're hot."

"Oh yeah?" you grinned, standing under the warm stream and pulling him towards you.

He nodded, his hands slipping over your waist to the top of your ass.

He ducked his head to kiss you under the water, and you grinned against his lips.

"Prove it."

*****

You left the hotel in thick leggings and a sweater, regretting your disregard for your appearance when you noticed a camera pointed your way.

“Fuck,” you groaned behind your mask, Jared instantly taking your hand and walking you towards the car.

“We’re okay,” he told you, both of your bags over his shoulder as he offered a small wave with his free hand. “Someone obviously tipped off that we’re here.”

You shook your head as you approached the car, keen to get inside as soon as possible.

“What’s wrong?” Jared asked, putting your bags in the back before getting into the front.

You were already strapped in, taking your mask off and sanitising your hands again.

“I look like shit,” you started, pressing on as he rolled his eyes and cleaned his own hands. “Plus, I’m clearly either pregnant or fat, now.”

“You don’t look fat,” he dismissed, starting the car.

“Then I’m obviously pregnant,” you insisted, tugging at your sweater. “This doesn’t exactly hide the babes very well.”

“Is that what we’re calling your boobs, now?” he teased, making you laugh despite yourself.

“Stop, I’m serious,” you told him. “I don’t want this pregnancy to be outed by some stupid pap shots.”

You leaned your head back against the rest, closing your eyes as your hands went to your bump.

“I wanted to announce it my own way, this time,” you mused, “Not have my hand forced. Again.”

Jared sighed, feeling guilty as he knew it was his slip up that had forced your announcement with Dallas.

“You’ve probably got about an hour,” he told you, “Maybe a little less, until a shitty article comes out. You could… you could beat them to it. Make their breaking news a little less breaking.”

You opened your eyes, looking over at his profile as he drove.

“You think that’s a good idea?” you questioned, and he shrugged one shoulder, briefly meeting your eye.

“I understand that it’s important for you to be in control of this,” he explained, his honesty and level of understanding taking you by surprise. “So much of your life has been out of your hands, and being able to announce this in your own way… I get it. Whatever you want to do, I’m in.”

*****

You called Gen on the way home, not wanting to wait until you got back, talking to her on loudspeaker so Jared was still a part of the conversation.

She understood that you wanted to announce it before any pictures were released, supporting your decision to post whatever you wanted.

You kept her on the call as you described what you were doing, finding a picture you’d taken the day you had found out you were pregnant shortly before Thanksgiving and creating an instagram post.

“I’m gonna… I’ll turn comments off,” you told them. “I don’t actually wanna talk about it all until we’re 16 weeks at least, but I need to be the one to say it.”

“Of course,” Gen agreed. “We support you, don’t we, Jare?”

“For sure,” Jared confirmed. “We can post it and forget about it for a few weeks, if that’s what you want.”

“Alright, I’m doin’ it,” you mumbled, making sure that comments were turned off before hitting send.

“Proud of you, baby,” Gen told you, making you laugh softly. “I know this isn’t how you wanted to announce it, but taking back control from dumb paps? That’s our girl.”

“Hell yeah,” Jared agreed, reaching across to take your hand. “You did good.”

“Sure,” you allowed, your phone already blowing up from your post. “Gen, we’re nearly home.”

“Alright, see you soon,” she told you, you and Jared both saying goodbye before you hung up.

“That was a good idea, right?” you asked, looking over at Jared as he continued to drive.

“For sure,” he confirmed without missing a beat. “I would’ve tried to stop you if it wasn’t.”

You smiled to yourself, running your hand over your bump as you watched likes and messages come in.

“It’s gonna be a weird couple weeks.”

*****

*****

You, Jared, and Gen had all contacted your agents when you got home, explaining that despite the announcement, you weren’t yet interested in expanding any more about your pregnancy. Jared had an interview upcoming with Good Morning America coming up - something you’d all forgotten about in the moment - but he had requested as little talk about the news as possible. He was happy to be congratulated, but beyond that you’d agreed to keep the details quiet until the twins had been cooking a little while longer. The only real detail you already had was the fact that they were identical, anyway.

The shots of you and Jared leaving the hotel came out soon after you returned home, with the source calling it your first outing since announcing your pregnancy, despite nothing being announced before said outing. Others commented on the fact that you were without Genevieve, speculating that she might not support the new additions to the family and that your relationship might be on the rocks. As soon as Gen saw one of those theories, however, she made sure to share your post to her story, simply stating that she couldn’t wait to meet them, hopefully dispelling as much as much of those rumours as possible.

*****

You and Gen were entertaining Dallas in the living room while Jared prepared for his interview in the office, the boys still at school for a few more hours.

Your stomach let out a loud gurgle, surprising your daughter from where she was sat at on the floor, Gen sat behind her braiding her hair.

“Sorry, baby,” you apologised, running your hand over your bump.

“S’that twinnies?” Dallas asked, making both you and Genevieve laugh.

“That’s just Mama being hungry,” Gen told her, running her fingers through Dallas’ hair and starting the braid again.

“But it is kinda the twinnies’ fault,” you allowed, getting to your feet. “I’m eatin’ for three.”

“I’m three,” Dallas announced, and Gen abandoned the braid in order to wrap her arms around her, pulling Dallas onto her lap.

“You are,” she laughed, kissing your daughter’s cheek. “You gotta stop growing, okay? You gotta stay this cute forever.”

“M’kay,” she agreed, leaning back into Gen’s embrace.

“Alright, ladies,” you began, getting to your feet, “What do we want for lunch?”

“I don’t mind,” Gen told you, putting her head on Dallas’ shoulder. “What about you, Bambina? Any requests?”

“Mac ‘n’ cheese,” she blurted, smiling up at you sweetly. “Please, Mama.”

Your stomach rumbled again at her words, making you laugh softly.

“Sounds like the twinnies agree,” you joked, Dallas grinning back at you. “I’ll start cookin’.”

“What do you say?” Gen prompted, and Dallas got up, rushing over to hug your legs.

“Tank you, Mommy,” she spoke into your thigh.

“You’re welcome, Dallas,” you smiled as you ruffled her hair, making a mess. “Let Bambi fix that and I’ll go make some macaroni.”

*****

Jared handled the interview as well as you could have hoped.

You knew he was especially conscious not to let anything slip, this time, and you were aware that it was going to be difficult if he was directly asked questions about it.

“They congratulated us,” he told you once it was over, joining you in the kitchen as you prepared your lunch. “Well, me, but us.”

“We kinda knew they would,” you allowed, leaning into him as he wrapped his arm around your waist.

“I just thanked them and said we’re all excited,” he murmured, kissing the top of your head. “They moved on to working with Gen and Walker questions pretty quick.”

“Good work, baby,” you smiled, leaning up to kiss him softly. “Dallas and the twinnies wanted mac and cheese.”

Jared smiled, pulling away from you in order to lean against the counter next to the stove, where you were heating the sauce and boiling the pasta.

“The twins wanted it, huh?” he asked with a knowing grin.

“They did,” you defended. “I wouldn’t usually be hungry this early if it wasn’t for these little guys.”

Jared rolled his lips between his teeth, trying to suppress another smile.

“What?” you asked, and he shook his head slightly as he let out a laugh. 

“I’m just excited,” he admitted, smiling bashfully. “We’re having twins.”

“Yah, two of ‘em,” you confirmed, making him roll his eyes.

You switched the heat off under the pasta, looking up at Jared hopefully.

He took the hint without a word, taking the pot to the sink to drain the macaroni while you stirred the sauce to stop it from sticking. He brought the pot back over, carefully pouring the cooked pasta into the sauce as you continued to stir.

“Look at you, making an actual meal from scratch,” Jared teased, causing you to huff a laugh.

“I’ve been a competent cook for a while now,” you defended, and he nodded.

“I know, you’re great,” he agreed, washing the pasta pot at the sink. “But seeing you cook while pregnant reminded me of last time. When I taught you to make that veggie lasagne.”

“I was absolutely useless back then,” you remembered, and Jared raised a brow.

“In the kitchen, maybe,” he allowed.

You caught the glimmer in his eye, swatting him with the back of your hand.

“Get away, you pervert,” you teased, pulling out a dish to finish the mac in the oven.

“I’m just sayin’, we’re good at what we do,” he grinned. “We’ve made three babies.”

“Go and talk to the first one,” you laughed, pretending to push him away. “I’ll call y’all for lunch in a few.”

“I love you,” he told you over his shoulder as he left.

“Yeah,” you replied, fighting a smile. “I love you too, loser.”

*****

You were all sat in the front room, Jared’s laptop open on the coffee table as the six of you spoke with Gen’s mom on FaceTime when the boys were home from school that afternoon.

She’d called for a general catch up, and the kids were happy to tell her every little detail about what they’d done since their last call together.

Your phone started to vibrate in your pocket, and you instantly apologised as you pulled it out.

“It’s my dad,” you noted, looking at Jared before back at the screen. “Sorry, he never really calls.”

“It’s fine, sweetheart,” Camille told you. “It was lovely to see you.”

“You too,” you agreed, answering the video call from Jensen as you left the room.

“Thought you were gonna leave me to ring out,” he joked, making you roll your eyes fondly.

“We were talking with Gen’s mom,” you informed him, heading up to your bedroom. “What’re you calling for?”

“Wow, rude,” he teased. “Can’t I just call to talk to my daughter? My sweet, sweet child that I love so much? The apple of my eye?”

You laughed despite yourself.

“You’re such a drama queen,” you told him, sitting against your headboard. “Did you actually just call for a chat, or-?”

“Yeah, kinda,” he admitted, laughing softly. “Dee’s entertaining the kids, figured I’d take a break and call you.”

“You getting tired of being their horse?” you asked, having seen the video Danneel posted the day before.

“Honestly, yeah,” he laughed. “I’m getting old.”

“Don’t talk about my dad like that,” you grinned, earning a fond smile.

“If you’ve gotta get back to your call, I don’t wanna keep you,” he told you, and you shook your head.

“It’s okay, the kids are boring Camille to death, I’m pretty sure,” you explained. “So, what do you wanna talk about?”

He hummed, contemplating.

“How about your completely blasé pregnancy announcement?” he offered. “What was all that about?”

You laughed, running the hand that wasn’t holding your phone over your ever-growing bump.

“Me and Jared got papped coming out of a hotel,” you explained, “And I was pretty clearly pregnant, so I figured I should just announce it before there was a chance to make it into some kinda scandal again.”

“Smart,” Jensen agreed, scratching his bearded chin. “What were you and Jared doing at a hotel, anyway?”

“At the hotel?” you clarified, and he nodded. “Sex, mostly. Some sleeping.”

You laughed at the instant look of exasperation on his face; a roll of his eyes together with a soft tut.

“That’s… that’s clearly not what I meant,” he reminded you.

“It was date night,” you explained, taking pity on his evident disappointment with your first answer. “Last weekend was me and Jared, this week is Jared and Gen.”

“So the odd one out stays home with the kids?” Jensen asked, and you nodded.

“Yep,” you confirmed. “Basically realised we don’t spend a lot of one-on-one time with each other. Like, we have three kids. And our usual date nights were all three of us, so we’re changing it up a bit.”

“Makes sense,” he agreed.

“Gonna try and do it weekly until the babies arrive,” you told him.

He nodded, taking in what you were saying.

“What?” you asked, when he didn’t respond for a while. “What are you thinking?”

“You’re happy, right?” he questioned, making you frown slightly.

“About what?” you asked, and he shrugged.

“Everything, I guess,” he sighed. “Your relationship.”

The question took you by surprise, the sincerity in his expression leading you to believe that he thought you might not be.

“I love them,” you assured him. “Jay, I wouldn’t have wanted another baby with them if I didn’t. They’re good to me, they put up with my shit and call me on it when I’m being an idiot.”

“And you’re happy?” he clarified, making you laugh softly.

“Yeah, Dad, I’m happy,” you promised. “You’d be the first to know if I wasn’t.”

“That’s a lie, you’d call Danneel,” he protested, and you nodded in defeat.

“Y’all are a unit, though,” you reasoned. “Calling Danneel is the same as calling you.”

“Yeah, well. Maybe call me a little more,” he shrugged, and realisation hit you that he had been feeling a little left out.

“Is this your way of telling me that you miss me?” you asked, earning a soft laugh.

“Yeah, I guess it is,” he allowed. “Call your dad, once in a while.”

You nodded, pulling your legs up under you.

“Alright, I’ll keep that in mind,” you assured him. “Now tell me what’s going on with you.”

[zoropookie]

Of course it's not really a similar context and mine might sound more stupid but this reminds me how the only friend I had in middle school was this toxic girl who did many things which I'm not going to fully explain as it would take a long time but some examples could be like me always comforting her and trying to find solutions to her problems meanwhile for me she'd just go "omf that is so sad...." And just stay there doing nothing, not that I expected it but I'd expect better comfort yk it's middle school we are all emotional at the time. My parents divorced at that time and they had a lot of financial issues which meant I had to be more careful with my money but I'd be willing to buy her things for her if she had anything missing. Someone threw her items to the trash? I'd buy wet wipes for her with all my allowance before cleaning them for her. She doesn't have lunch money? I'd give her like 75% of my food etc. She would also get offended if I gave her any positive criticism. She then went on to leave me to befriend my bully (who literally pushed me out of our still moving school bus when the driver opened the door because I was left standing all the time) and told me she must have had a reason to do it. Then they spent the entirety of the last semester hanging out together before ALSO befriending the one girl I was starting to get along with. It's been like 4-5 years since we last saw each other since I won the high school exam and went to a good one and JUST RECENTLY she texted me again like she didn't ignore my attempts at to meet again all that time. Didn't bother replying even though I did feel bad. I just don't wanna get my hopes up again yk

Just ignore and forget about them, do what you think will make you feel better pookie. Never give into people who just do as they please with you or keep you around just to have fun for a while before finally completely breaking off everything with you. If they start hanging out without you and seem contempt without you or ghost you like that, then don't even give them time you'll be more heartbroken that way. Unless there's something like an obligation or something where you guys have to work together for something, idk, just leave them to their own thing. Don't tire yourself out like that

-🌻anon

i’m so sorry that happened to you anon, i know a lot of people aren’t really remorseful when they do stuff like that but rest assured you never did anything wrong. i’m sure that you are a delight to be around, and you are a very good person to tolerate it. never compare your worth to those who can’t see it anyway

those friends were all i had from 17-22 lmaoooo. i was a shithead and part of me understands why they didn’t fw me anymore, i’m due for some serious therapy. but i also don’t think that things should have left unsaid for such a long time. my peace with it is admitting it was probably my fault and that i should just move on, but i don’t think i’ll be able to let myself get close to people

[subbe93]

Day 1: The First Symptom

A/N: Because I got a chance, I wanted to write/share this one for the prompt: Not Childhood Friends AU. @shin05 asked for a nurse/doctor!Ran & detective!Shinichi, and I could have combined this request in the Light in My Nightmares because Shinichi was a detective and Ran a nurse, but I kind of got a “fun” idea for this request, so I wanted to do it separately. To be honest, this is more different than I got into my mind, but I like where this is going, and I’m pretty excited to get to write more about this, so this will be my next project after ShinRan week!

Edited by @mirrorfalls ❤

I hope you guys like this ❤

Chapter 1: The First Symptom

The first time she met that arrogant, stupid, wannabe detective…

Well, in retrospect, maybe it shouldn’t have been surprising at all, since her whole day had been pretty different from usual. Instead of sitting in her office peacefully, taking clients into her room turn by turn, hearing what was bothering them, and offering solutions, she had ended up onboard an ambulance, because there had been an emergency call: In Tokyo, there had been an event that got cut short by an explosion. Ran didn’t know anything further, just heard that there were serious injuries, and since there weren’t any other doctors free to go, she had volunteered. Not her specialty, but since there were people who needed her help, she would do it!

It couldn’t be too different from office work.

Well, maybe it wasn’t that different, but it was enough to open her eyes to the uglier side of a doctor’s job. The place looked much worse than she had thought it would. Most of the people looked so restless, wanting to leave, but not allowed to for some reason. Some of them waited nicely, but quite a few were angry and tried to fight against official authority. Police were everywhere, some just guarding, probably making sure that no one left before everything was fine, and some just calming people down. Some people just sat on the ground and waited. And what made Ran truly sad, was the sound of the children: Some of them looked so scared in their parents' or other adults’ arms. She heard some of them crying, which made something twist in her heart. Poor souls, they were the last who should’ve seen or experienced something so terrible.

But the good thing was that most of them looked to be in good shape and unharmed, even though it didn’t change the fact that they have experienced something terrible, and it would leave marks. Marks that some of them, maybe, would never leave behind.

“First aid is here, who needs help?” one of the paramedics shouted as they walked around to check people. Ran saw a woman, who cradled her hand like it was hurting, and a little boy who looked like he had hurt his leg. And then there was a man who seemed to need help the most. He was sitting on the ground, a painful grimace crossing his face for a moment while he held his left side. There were two other people, crouched beside him, and when he turned his eyes to them, Ran saw how he tried to hide his pain behind a confident smile. Like an assurance that he was fine. One of his watchers stood up and looked around until he saw her. His face lit up a little.

“Please, over here!” he shouted and raised his hand at her, waving frantically. “He’s bleeding…”

Bleeding? That made Ran speed up.

“Ah, it’s nothing, really…” the injured one said, and looked like he was trying to stand up, but apparently his side said otherwise since his pained grimace instantly returned. Ran went closer, dropped her first-aid kit on the ground, and pressed him back down.

“It seems it’s something”, Ran said gently, and turned to look at the pair who had been with him. Man and woman, dressed up pretty formally. Probably with the police. They looked a little bit worried. Ran smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him.”

The woman started to smile, and then she stood up, looking at the man who was on the ground. “Okay, rest easy, Kudo-kun. We’ll wrap this case, don’t worry.”

Ran heard a gasp behind her, but she ignored it.

“But…”

“Let’s go, Takagi-kun!” the woman continued before turning and leaving. The man, evidently Takagi, turned to look at the injured one with a smile. “You’re in good hands”, he said and nodded before turning to Ran. He bowed. “Please, take good care of him.”

“I will”, Ran promised. Takagi stood up and glanced at the wounded man one last time before running after the woman.

“Um, Mouri-sensei…”

The groan that the man - Kudo - let out interrupted the question that one of the paramedics started behind her. Ran’s attention was back on the man, who - to Ran’s surprise - didn’t seem to be seriously pained or worried. Instead, he looked like he was bored and annoyed. Ran frowned.

“Okay”, the man let out and moved a little to take a better position. His blue eyes met Ran’s, and he smiled. “Thanks for your effort, but really, I’m fine. So… Go take care of others, and…” He tried to get up.

“Just stay there, okay”, Ran interrupted him, pressing him back to sit down. She realized that she barely had to use any force to get him back down, which probably meant that he was weaker than he looked. The man let out another groan, but ignoring that, Ran turned to look at the two paramedics with her. She still found it a little strange that those two hadn’t taken the initiative to go check the others. “And you two, go take care of the other ones we saw! Lots of people here need help.”

The man nodded with determination and ran towards the child who was holding their leg, but the woman still hesitated. Ran looked at her, waiting. The woman looked bothered when she turned back to Ran.

“Listen, Mouri-sensei…” she began and smiled nervously. “His wound seems pretty bad, so I can take care of him, and…”

“It’s okay, I can handle this”, Ran answered gently and turned back to Kudo, who was still grimacing and looking at his side, but still holding his hand over the wound so that Ran couldn’t see it. “Go take care of others. I’ll call you if I need help.”

She waited to hear footsteps, but she didn’t, and it seemed that the man before her noticed it too since he also raised his head and looked at them. Ran turned again to look at the woman, and noticed that she looked a little upset. Her mouth was curving like she would have liked to seriously argue, but when Ran opened her mouth to ask - demand -  what was going on, the paramedic nodded and went over to the wounded woman. Ran watched her for a moment longer, still wondering what that was about.

“Well, you should go help her too”, the man’s voice said, making Ran turn her attention back to him. He was also looking after the paramedic. “She’s in worse shape than me, and…”

Ran frowned again. “Why are you fighting this?” she asked. The man stopped and met her eyes. “You are in pain, you are hurt… and you don’t want to be treated?”

It was his turn to frown. “It’s not that”, he answered. “But I’ve been in real scrapes, and this is nothing”, he explained and looked at his side. “I can treat this myself.”

“But I’m here, so let the professional take care of this”, she said gently and turned to look at his side. His hand was still covering it. “So please, let me see that.”

“It’s just a scratch”, he said, without doing anything to move his hand.

Ran met his eyes again. They were blue and pretty determined, like he was absolutely sure that he didn’t want anyone to see that wound. She still couldn’t understand why.

“For a scratch, it seems to bother you very much”, she said. He just kept staring at her, without doing the smallest twitch to move his hand away. She just stared back. Okay, she admitted, he was a stubborn one, but she had met more stubborn clients before, and she had her ways. When she got into Medical school, she had sworn to help everyone, no matter what. And he wouldn’t be an exception. She wouldn’t turn her back on him, leave him untreated. She would make him show that wound even if all the Heavens declared it would be the last thing she would do.

“Listen, mister”, she started and smiled gently. “There are a few options that we have: First, you move that hand of yours, take your shirt off, and let me see and treat your wound, and after that, you are free to do whatever you want.”

“And the second one is where you try to move my hand and tear my shirt off, am I right?” he continued with a small, cynical smile.

“There won’t have to be much trying”, she answered and glanced at his covering hand again. “I can see you’re already in pain, so to be honest, you don’t have much chance against me.” Then she looked into his eyes again and smiled sweetly. “But of course, if it makes you feel better and you want to lie to yourself, you can pretend that you have a chance of leaving without me treating that wound. It’s fine by me.”

Blue eyes stared at her, and the smile stayed, even though Ran had been sure that any sane man would have given up the fight. He didn’t. Ran stared back, keeping her smile equally firm to show him that she was serious about this, and she would not let him go before he was treated. Part of her was still worried that there would be many others who had been injured and she was just wasting her time with this one, but he was important too, and she still had two paramedics with her. They were more than qualified to treat anyone. And if there were someone in worse condition, she wanted to believe that they would have been shown to her already.

“Well, it seems there’s just no getting rid of you”, Kudo said eventually. Ran frowned but didn’t answer, just observed how he took off his hand. Against his white shirt, the red stain was like a wildfire, spreading wider every second. Ran gasped and stared at it worriedly. It looked so bad…

“Are you sure you’re up to this?”

Ran raised her eyes to Kudo. He looked like he was doubting her.

“Take that shirt off or I will”, Ran said and turned towards her kit. She needed something to clean it…

“Well, you looked pretty terrified”, Kudo continued calmly.

“Don’t you bother yourself with that”, Ran answered, and searched for a proper cloth. “And you’re pretty bad at reading people. I wasn’t terrified”, she denied.

“Hmm-mm”, he hummed like he didn’t believe her at all. It almost made Ran want to take a deep breath, but she held herself. He was just one of those tough-customers who wanted to try their limits and pretended to be Hard and Manly but would turn around as soon as she began to treat them. Some people were just like that.

When she’d found disinfectant and cloth and set the bandages at the kit’s top, she turned back to Kudo. He had taken his dress shirt half off, just enough that it showed the left side of his chest and side. Ran grimaced. That wound looked even worse now. She heard him let out some kind of snort, but she ignored it. Instead, she took water and wet the cloth to clean most of the blood away so she could get a better view of the wound. 

The wound itself didn’t look too deep, but big enough to have let out so much blood. Well, not too much, since Kudo at least seemed to be in talking shape. She took another cloth and started to clean the wound. It would heal itself, with luck, needing no specialized treatment.

“Why are you a paramedic?”

“What?” Ran asked, surprised. She glanced at the Kudo, who was pinning her with a serious expression.

“Why did you become a paramedic?” he repeated, raising another eyebrow.

Ran frowned. “Why wouldn’t I?” she asked and got her eyes back to his wound, which looked a little better now that she had cleaned it. It was still bleeding, but after she got a bandage on it, that wouldn’t last long. “Because I wanted to help people”, she answered while she took another, slightly bigger cloth to cover his wound with. “Because so many people need help and medical attention, and I have always known that if I can help them, everyone would end up happier”, she explained, and moved a little bit so it would be easier for her to wrap that bandage around him.

“But there are many other ways to help people”, Kudo said nonchalantly.

“Yeah, and I chose this one”, Ran answered.

“But why?��

Ran stopped and looked at the man, who just looked down at the bandage that she had wrapped a few turns already. “What do you mean why?” she asked, and when he met her gaze, she continued. “Because I thought this would be the most effective way to help people, and I like my job.”

He frowned. “I don’t think you’re suited to this job.”

Ran felt like someone had thrown a bucket of ice water over her. She just stared at those blue eyes, and her brain suddenly couldn’t find any answer.

What did he mean that she wasn’t suitable? This was her dream, to be a doctor, to help people! Heal them, make sure that they would escape their pain and feel better! See them smile again! She loved to work with other people! Teachers had praised her when she went through medical school, and she knew, thanks to all kinds of feedback, that she had been liked in her workplace. She had helped countless people leave their beds smiling, she had been patient with the hard ones, and everyone told her from time to time that she was always smiling and empathetic, which clients appreciated. She had never let it show if she was suffering a bad day, or took her frustration out on others, not even her co-workers.

She knew she was loved, and she believed that she was good at what she did.

She was suited to this job.

“Oh”, she answered as calmly as she could and turned to look at the bandage, continuing the wraps. “And why do you think so?”

“When you first came, I saw how you were looking around”, he answered. “You looked like you could burst into tears any second.”

Ran’s grip on the bandage tightened a little bit. “And what’s wrong with that?” she asked. “It’s only natural to feel bad for others.”

“And you looked horrified at my blood…”

“Because I was surprised how much there was”, she defended herself, and it was the truth. In that white shirt, it had looked like a nightmare, and she wasn’t prepared for it. “I thought your wound was going to be so much worse…”

“Mmmm”, he hummed like he still didn’t believe. “But I don’t think it’s exactly professional to show it to a client.”

“We are all humans”, Ran said. “And in any case, I’m still able to treat you. It’s only natural to react…”

“And it’s natural for these things to happen”, Kudo interrupted her. “A crybaby like you shouldn’t be a medic.”

Ran froze. She turned to look at Kudo, who was again peering at that bandage around him, like he was judging her work.

“Excuse me?” Ran asked slowly, with ice in her voice.

Kudo raised his eyes back to her. “These things happen”, he explained like someone observing the weather. “People get hurt, they get wounds, maybe something worse. And if you can’t hold yourself together, like you couldn’t right here”, he added, “maybe you should stay at home to clean and cook.”

Ran saw red.

How dare he?! She had so much to say, but no, she had to hold herself. She was professional and she shouldn’t let him get under her skin. And really, after this, she would probably never again meet this man. So she continued wrapping the bandage. The faster she got done with him, the better. “First, there is nothing wrong with being a housewife”, she answered as calmly as she could. “Second, this is my dream, to help people.”

“Mmm?” Kudo hummed.

“And third”, Ran continued. “I’m not a crybaby.”

Kudo hummed again. “Well, to me it looks like you are”, he said.

“I’m not”, Ran said, and wrapped another round.

“Yes, you are”, he disagreed.

Another round…

“I’m not.”

“You are.”

“I’m not.”

“You are.”

Last round. Ran bit the bullet and pulled the bandage as hard as she could to get it tight - maybe a little too hard. Kudo let out some noise. Ran looked at him from the corner of her eye, and even though he tried to look tough and nonchalant, she saw that it had hurt him. Good.

“And if my services don’t please you, maybe you should stop being such a baby and learn to take care of yourself”, Ran said calmly while tying the bandage. Her job here was done, he was treated and she could move on. She looked at the man, who still seemed to be in fresh pain, but she couldn’t care less. He deserved it! “And most importantly”, she continued, leaning a little bit closer to him. He turned to her with a wary look. It pleased Ran, and she smiled sweetly. “I’m not a paramedic. I am a doctor.”

When he didn’t answer, Ran leaned away from him. “Remember to observe that injury of yours”, she said coldly while packing all the remaining materials back into the aid kit. “If it’s still bleeding by evening, call Emergencies.” Then she took the bag and stood up, turning to look at him one last time. He was observing her with a serious expression. “Also, don’t get that wound wet if you can help it, and remember to change the bandage from time to time and clean it.”

She turned to leave.

“Aren’t you going to introduce yourself, in case I have to enter your care in the future, Mouri-sensei?” he asked. Ran turned to look at him and saw how he got a lopsided smile while observing her.

Ran raised her other eyebrow before shaking her head. “I believe there are many other, more suitable doctors in Tokyo for you”, she answered before turning and walking off. She tried to walk as calmly as she could, trying to pretend like there was nothing wrong. She wouldn’t let him have the pleasure of seeing that he had gotten on her nerves, and at the same time, it would be only professional to stay calm, regardless of what kind of patients she would have. Some people were easy, some just wanted to try their limits.

But God, underneath she was boiling! She wanted too much to try her fist on something, to get that stupid man and his irritating attitude away from her head, away from her memories! She wanted to get home and complain to someone about how irritating people could be! And how dare he! Was he saying that she should stay at home to clean and cook because she was a woman?! And she wasn’t a crybaby! It was okay to cry, and it was okay to feel bad for the people who had seen something terrible, who had experienced something that would scar them the rest of their lives!

But it seemed that there was something wrong in that man’s brain! It seemed that he couldn’t understand. God, maybe he should be the one who should stay at home and clean and cook if he had nothing nice to say to other people!

She hated him. But luckily, she wouldn’t have to meet him ever again.

Ran came to the two paramedics who stood beside the ambulance. She tried to calm herself down. It wasn’t their fault that she was in a bad mood. So she let out a sigh and glanced around, trying to see if there still was someone who needed some first aid, but she didn’t spot anyone.

“Have you taken care of everyone?” she asked and looked at the paramedics.

“Yes, we did”, the man answered and smiled. “I think we can return to the hospital. Police will take care of the rest.”

Ran nodded and gave her aid kit to the man, who went back. The woman turned to go to the driver's side. Ran walked to the other side, almost wanting to glance towards that stupid man again, see if he had gotten up, but she stopped herself. No, she wouldn’t give that to him.

She got into the car and slammed the door behind her. She closed the seat belt, maybe a little harder than she should have, and then she turned to look out from the side window, waiting for the paramedic to drive away, get her away from this area, from that stupid man she would never see again. She would forget that man and pretend that this day never happened…

There was a sigh. And the car didn’t move.

“You know, Mouri-sensei… I’m a little envious of you.”

Ran frowned. “Why?” she asked and turned to look at the paramedic. The woman just sat there, hands on the steering wheel, staring straight ahead. Then she turned to look at Ran and smiled a little bit. “You got to treat the famous detective, Kudo Shinichi himself!”

Ran just stared at the woman, who looked so happy and dreamy when she turned back to stare ahead again, leaning on the steering wheel. “Oh, he is amazing! I admire him so much, he is intelligent, athletic, kind, good with words… And handsome. So handsome! Gosh, he’s got a charming smile and those eyes… So gentle and determined. So blue, like a clear ocean…” She shook her head a little and let out a sigh, looking like she was ready to float away. “I would have given everything to get a chance to treat him…”

Ran just stared at the woman. She wanted to puke. What were those words she’d used to describe that man? None of them made sense with him! Ran hadn’t seen anything great in that man! For the life of her, she couldn’t even see why anyone would envy her just because she happened to treat some wannabe detective who couldn’t say a single decent thing to her! God, he didn’t even thank her!

She wanted to let out a sigh and tell her that she should forget that “detective”. There was nothing great in him. But she was nice enough to not do that. Instead, she kept everything deep inside her and turned away, looking out from her window. “Well, if I knew that beforehand, I would have given it to you with pleasure.”

Chapter 2

[leavingkamino]

dark red; chapter ten - when you least expect it

Chapter Preview: “You almost sound worried, does this mean we’re friends now?” he could hear the smile in your voice.

“I said don’t talk.”

“The fact that you’re carrying me like this seems indicative that we’ve grown at least a little bit closer.” You acted as if you hadn't heard him, “C’mon, admit it. You do like me.”

Pairing: Crosshair/Reader (GN), Crosshair/You

Rating: T

Warnings: Descriptions of Injuries (not in detail)

Word Count: 5k

A/N: Welcome to the end of the second arc! This chapter is a big one 👀 HUGE thank you to B @literallydontlook for beta reading this!!

Masterlist

Previous Chapter

Read on ao3 (if you’d prefer)

Tag List: (tag list form) @lackofhonor @leia-saveourskins @that-one-beannnn @sammercxx @why-not-movies @lightning-wolffe @dwarfnip @imalovernotahater @salaminus @srryxmate @cipher-nine

Crosshair wished he had both of his hands free to keep you from slipping off his back, but there was no time to stop. There wasn’t a guarantee that the tunnel wouldn’t eventually collapse as well. He hoisted you up higher as he felt you slipping again and carried on. The fact that you went all the way back for him was stupid, he decided. You’d probably already made it out with the colonists and were only waiting on him, Lahna and the rest. To go back for him was almost suicidal in his eyes. But for some reason, despite it all, he couldn’t help the bit of relief he'd felt seeing your face again. Crosshair brushed that thought aside and began walking at a much brisker pace when he felt a harsh puff of air against the back of his neck.

He heard you whimper in pain and your arms suddenly tightened around where they hung over his shoulders, “...Crosshair?”

“Don’t talk. You hit your head from what I could tell. When we get out we’ll have someone check on you,” he said.

Suddenly he heard a laugh escape from you. He rolled his eyes. That was confirmation enough for him. He was caught slightly off guard when he suddenly felt you right next to his ear.

“You almost sound worried, does this mean we’re friends now?” he could hear the smile in your voice.

“I said don’t talk.”

“The fact that you’re carrying me like this seems indicative that we’ve grown at least a little bit closer.” You acted as if you hadn't heard him, “C’mon, admit it. You do like me.”

You laughed again while Crosshair glared at nothing in particular before he stopped abruptly, “Would you rather walk the rest of the way?”

As if suddenly remembering that you were, in fact, injured to some extent, he heard your breath hitch in pain and you didn’t reply.

Crosshair then handed the rifle to you, “Hold this.”

You took it from him and repositioned your arms around his shoulders as he hoisted you up again with both hands this time. The rest of the way through the tunnel was silent except for the little noises of pain he noticed you were trying to keep down. Something heavy sat in his chest, but he noticed the tunnel getting brighter the further he walked which meant the end was close. He heard a slight rumble not far behind him and picked up his pace. Soon the Kiros sunlight hit him and he heard Lahna’s voice shout in Togruti as she ran over.

“You are both alright. I’m so glad.” Lahna said, worry evident in her eyes.

“Feels like a mudhorn ran me over, but other than that, yeah,” you groaned from over his shoulder.

“Part of the cave ceiling fell on them,” he explained.

“I’m fine now, my legs just feel stiff,” you said.

“That’s not a good thing,” he replied irritably.

“Put me down, I can walk,” you demanded.

Crosshair frowned and was about to retort when Plink shuffled rapidly over to them, beeping loudly in concern.

“I’ll be okay Plink, it’s nothing serious,” you assured her.

“Bring them over to the skiff so we can take a look,” Lahna said. He followed her, Plink trailing quickly after them.

He turned and felt your weight slip from his back as you sat on the edge. You handed the rifle back to him and winced as you put a little bit of pressure on one of your legs. Lahna called to one of the colonists nearby and a few seconds later they came back with a medkit to start looking you over. Crosshair noticed how you winced again when they gently felt around your knee, but that seemed to be the only other noticeable injury. Your head was another matter that could be handled later with rest.

“That looks like it needs to be treated, Crosshair.” Lahna said as she gestured to his shoulder wound and he missed the way you looked at him with concern.

“I’ve had worse, I’ll be fine,” he said to her. She didn’t look convinced as she eyed the wound, but before she could say anything else, Ryshlen came over to them.

“I was beginning to think I would not be able to give this back to you,” she said as she handed the blaster to him, “I am curious, how did you manage to take down that first fighter from your position? They were both quite far away.”

“Lucky shot.” he lied in a deadpan tone.

Ryshlen raised her eyebrow, but bought it, “Well, if it were not for that then things would have turned out for the worst.”

“Indeed,” he responded.

“Ryshlen, will you check with the scouts and tell them to go ahead of us? We will need to leave in a few moments.” Lahna said.

“Take care,” she said with a smile before leaving. 

He then heard a grunt and saw you slowly limping over to the both of them, the bag you’d come with slung over your shoulder. Plink was at your heels like a duckling to its mother.

“Good enough to walk,” you smiled, but he didn’t miss the way you winced and scratched the side of your head to play it off.

“Are you certain?” Lahna asked.You rested a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Crosshair can just carry me again if my knee acts up too much,” you tell her with a teasing smile and a side glance at him.

He gave you an unamused look, but it seemed to reassure Lahna and she cracked a smile in response.

“Where will you all go now?” You asked, your own smile dropping in concern.

“I sent scouts ahead to check on the place I have in mind, we will manage,” she nodded determinedly.

“This gives us a chance to rest and plan,” she explained, “If they think we have all perished in the cave, then we have the element of surprise when we’re finally ready to take back our home.”

“Catching the Empire with their pants down. I like the way you think.” you smirked and Lahna laughed and gave you a warm look.

“I am so thankful for all your help. Both of you.” she turned to Crosshair and he didn’t know how to feel as he held her gaze.

“I’m just glad we could do something.” You returned her warm look with one of your own.

The moment came to a close as one of the colonists came to inform Lahna that everyone was ready and all inventory was accounted for. Lahna nodded and began to follow after everyone when she turned around one last time.

“I hope our paths cross again. Preferably under better circumstances. May the Force be with you both.” 

And then she was gone.

Something in Crosshair coiled unpleasantly at the phrase, but a hand on his arm got his attention before he could dwell on it.

“You’re good to go right?” you asked him. He noticed your eyes flicker to his shoulder.

“I should be asking you that,” he responded.

“You don’t have to carry me again if that’s what you’re worried about, I was just teasing,” you smirked.

“You still have a concussion and we have to walk back to the ship,” he pointed out.

“It’s not that far. C’mon, let’s go before the Empire decides they wanna send scouts,” you urged.

He turned and was about to follow you when he heard the sound of panting and frantic footfalls behind him. He was caught off guard and almost fell over as Hara crashed into him, latching onto one of his legs. His eyes widened as he looked down at her, at a loss for what to do when she almost immediately started crying. Another set of footsteps came running from the same direction and Crosshair looked up to find Kuli’s worried eyes meeting his own.

“I apologize, but she took off before I could do anything,” he said.

“That’s alright,” you said, “I think she just wanted to see if he was okay and to say goodbye.”

Crosshair stood rigid as the little Togruta girl clung to him. But now that the surprise had worn off, he was just uncomfortable. He wasn’t about to push her off, even if she did have a death grip on his leg.

“Is that right, Hara?” Kuli asked. Hara turned her face to nod at her father.

She let out a pitiful noise and Crosshair tried not to sigh as he decided that the only way he was getting out of this was to reassure her. She raised her head to look at him with teary eyes.

She let go as he knelt down to her eye level. “It’s only a blaster wound. I’ll be fine.”

Hara looked at his shoulder and then back to his face and her crying finally stopped. She sniffed, wiped her face and nodded. He thought that was sufficient enough, but as he went to stand up she suddenly threw her arms around his waist. Crosshair was startled once again and looked up at Kuli for help, but her father only smiled at the scene before him. 

He heard Plink beep thrice and you laughed softly from behind him. He had to keep himself from making a face at that. Eventually, Hara pulled away and stared up at him with bright eyes before her face twisted into one of concentration. She opened her mouth as if to speak.

"Are you trying to tell him something, Hara?" her father asked gently.

She nodded and tried again, but still no sound came out as she struggled to form the beginnings of a word. Her expression crumpled into one of defeat. Crosshair instinctively rested a hand on her shoulder.

“I understand,” he told her and her lips turned up into a smile.

Finally, he stood and Hara walked back to her father. Kuli said his goodbyes and gave Crosshair a thankful look before taking Hara’s hand. They’d both started walking to rejoin the other colonists when Hara turned around one last time to wave goodbye. He waited until she’d continued on with her father to start the trek back to the ship.

“You're good with kids,” you said as you caught up to him and he could hear the teasing lilt in your voice.

“Please, shut up,” he grumbled, but it didn’t hold as much heat as his words from earlier and yesterday evening did.

“That was almost polite,” you laughed and he glared at you.

“Okay, I’m done. I won’t tease you for the rest of our walk back, promise,” you said, still smiling. He sighed.

He glanced behind one last time to see Kuli and Hara rejoining the others. His mind flashed back to the cave when for a split second he’d seen himself in place of that trooper. He couldn’t help the guilt now. He'd given into it. Now he couldn’t place it back in its box anymore.

The beginning of the journey back to the ship was quiet and cautious, save for Plink’s occasional noises. Crosshair kept an eye out for any Kiros birds in the off-chance that any more of them were being used to monitor outside the city. He didn’t hear any until there was a breeze again. It rustled through the trees gently and Crosshair heard a cry not far off. He stopped next to you and Plink and lifted the rifle in the direction it’d come from. He heard it again and another responded back. Then both birds flew up out of the trees and in the opposite direction. Crosshair lowered the rifle and he heard you sigh in relief as he carried on.

Your uneven footsteps a few moments later almost gave him pause, but then you were sure-footed again. He glanced over to see you blinking quite rapidly, a bead of sweat dripping down your temple. The weight from the bag over your shoulder probably wasn’t helping much either. On one hand they could rest for a moment so you didn't keel over, but on the other, the sooner they got back to the ship, the sooner you could get to the medbay. Crosshair took the bag from you and slung it over his own shoulder. He saw your surprised expression out of the corner of his eye.

“You said I wouldn’t have to carry you, but if you decide to faint before we even get close to the ship then where would that leave us?” he asked rhetorically.

“Thank you,” you said very quietly after a few seconds.

You clearly weren’t very talkative at the moment, but he chalked it up to your injuries.

“I've been half expecting you to give me an I told you so. ” you finally said after a few minutes.

He looked over at you.

“I told you so.”

You sighed softly and shook your head. Nothing else was said for a while until you suddenly sighed again, loudly this time, and stopped. Plink beeped as she almost barreled into the back of your legs. He turned around to find you frowning slightly at him.

"Do you not feel sorry for what you said at all?" you asked.

"And what exactly did I say?" he countered.

"Don't act like you don't know," you huffed.

"If this is about yesterday when you interrogated me and could not take the hint that I wanted to be left alone, then no ,” he said, underlying annoyance in his tone.

“Interrogated? ” you asked in disbelief, “I was concerned, you kriffing idiot!”

“I didn't ask for your concern,” he gritted out, “And your persistent attempts to get me to talk about myself are annoying and hypocritical considering you’ve barely shared anything about yourself.”

“Wha–"

He stepped closer to you. “Tell me, how much time did you spend with that reg that you ended up with his Republic-issued rifle locked away in the weapons hold of your ship?”

“Now who’s interrogating who?” you asked angrily.

He ignored you and barreled on, “Why do you care so much about what happened to the entire clone army? Why do all of them, but especially your reg, mean so much to you that you look like you’re in pain at the mere thought of them? Exactly how close were you with him? Relationships were against regulation and the punishment for a clone–”

“He was like a brother to me!” you yelled and Crosshair felt his anger deflate and morph into surprise.

An uncomfortable feeling took root in him when he noticed the tears in your eyes. Plink beeped angrily, but didn’t resort to attacking him, instead resting one of her clamps comfortingly on your leg.

“...He was like a brother to me,” you said in a softer tone, “His whole squad was like family to me.”

And suddenly Crosshair was back on Kamino. Omega’s words as he stood firmly planted on that platform echoed through his mind once again. He frowned and looked off to the side so he didn’t have to meet your eye.

“...I’m–” he tried.

“Let’s just get back to the ship,” you interrupted and walked on, leaving him weighted by guilt once again.

He put distance between himself and you the rest of the way back. Or rather, Plink wouldn’t let him get any closer than a couple of feet or else she would beep angrily at him. Crosshair stayed alert, but his mind was now occupied with the new knowledge he’d goaded you into sharing. Was , he thought. You specifically used the past tense, so whoever this clone happened to be he must not be alive anymore. Crosshair remembered you telling him the day after he’d met you that this clone and his squad had been stationed on your home planet. He wondered what kind of conflict had arisen that had had the Republic deploying its troops there. He wondered how long it had been since it happened. He also wondered how you’d ended up working for Cid.

Plink beeped again, but this time it was at the sight of the Gizka through the trees. The pain in his shoulder was starting to bother him again now, but you were in no condition to fly so the task now fell to him. Right before they reached the ramp your breath hitched and he watched you stumble and lose your balance. He was at your side in an instant, placing a hand on your arm to keep you from falling. He was all but shoved away immediately after.

"I'm fine," you said firmly, holding a hand to your head.

"You need to go to the medbay. Take something and then rest," he said as he opened the door.

"I still have to fly us out of here," you threw a glare at him.

"I'll do it."

"And what makes you think I'll allow that?"

"Do you want to lose focus mid-flight and send us crashing back down here?" He didn’t want to start yet another argument, but you infuriated him so easily.

You blinked rapidly and wobbled a little and Plink beeped worriedly. You closed your eyes and sighed before opening them again.

"I swear if you crash her…"

"I know how to fly a ship."

"We'll see about that won't we," you said before you marched up the ramp with Plink right behind you.

Crosshair rolled his eyes and made his way to the cockpit. As he sat in the pilot’s seat–rifle laid across his lap–he was struck by a memory. The very first time he had flown the Havoc Marauder. It was after many sessions with Tech explaining the ins and outs of every node, switch, module and button. As much as Crosshair was used to the info dumping, he’d just wanted to get to the flying part. Tech's worrying over the state of the ship didn’t stop until Crosshair had finally let him take over. His brother had still praised him for how naturally he'd adapted, but he'd responded arrogantly. Crosshair suddenly wished he could hear his praise again.

He scowled and ignored that thought in favor of getting the ship in the air. He remembered to activate the cloaking device as soon as the ship was airborne. The scanners were clear, thankfully, and soon they were leaving the planet’s atmosphere. Crosshair input the coordinates to Ord Mantell and the ship made the jump to hyperspace. He felt his body sag from exhaustion as he released a breath he didn’t know he'd been holding. The pain in his shoulder was excruciating now, but he sat for a moment in silence before getting up to go to the medbay.

The hall was quiet with no signs of you or Plink and when he got to the medbay it was empty. He assumed you'd actually listened to what he said about resting. Crosshair searched the cabinets for the right medical supplies and then carefully divested himself of his cloak, top half armor, and shirt. His mask was probably still in your bag, he realized, and if it wasn't he'd have to get a new one after landing. He grabbed a disinfectant wipe and hissed in pain more than once as he started cleaning around the wound.

“Let me do it,” he heard from the doorway and he paused.

“You should be resting,” he said, but your footsteps sounded across the floor as you walked over to him.

“What part of what I just said did you not understand?” he said with annoyance and looked up at you.

“I’ll go rest if you let me do it,” you compromised, holding out your hand.

He looked at you warily for a second before giving the wipe to you. There was silence for a minute as you cleaned around his wound and then you grabbed a swab and the bacta gel.

“Why?” was all Crosshair asked. He was beyond confused how you could stand to be around him at the moment.

“Because you looked like you needed some help,” you answered and he frowned.

“And just because I’m angry at you doesn’t mean I don’t care that you got hurt,” you added.

“And why do you care?” he huffed.

“Because I’m your friend,” you said, finally looking him in the eye, “Or at least I'd like to be. I believe you're not all sharp edges. What you did back on Kiros proved that isn’t the case. People are multifaceted, not just good or bad. I want to get to know you better. And in return I'll…I'll try to be more forthcoming if you ask about me, but I won't push if you won't. I promise."

Your gaze held his own and Crosshair could hear the hum of the ship moving through hyperspace, significantly louder in the silence. His first initial thought was to refuse. You were asking him to trust you more and he immediately felt defensive. Why should he agree to this? Why should he allow you to potentially know more about him than you did already? How was he supposed to believe your promise not to push? But then he caught the way your eyes shone with a sincerity and a hopefulness he wasn't very used to being on the end of. It had him reconsidering. With a little bit of reluctance, Crosshair decided to take a leap.

He hummed in agreement and you looked happily relieved. Your eyes left his as you went back to applying the bacta to his shoulder. Seconds later he noticed them trail over to his arm, stopping at the tattoo on his bicep. A skull with ninety-nine written in Aurebesh underneath it. You didn’t open your mouth to ask him about it, but he could tell from the look in your eye that you wanted to. He decided to indulge your curiosity as a sort of peace offering.

“It was our squad number and our symbol,” he said and you tensed, probably from being caught. He watched you try to cover it up by quickly throwing away the swab and grabbing the patch.

“I see,” was all you said, but your voice was soft and he watched the corners of your mouth lift up a little.

"What was his name?" he asked as you gently smoothed the patch down on his shoulder.

Your hands retreated and he noticed the pain in your eyes again before you stared down at the floor.

"I…," you trailed off, "I can't. Not yet."

He nodded and let it go and turned around to put his shirt back on.

“I’ll contact Cid and let her know we’re on our way back,” he said.

When he turned back around, you were already gone.

They arrived on Ord Mantell a few rotations later. The journey back had been uneventful and involved a lot of sleeping on your part. The rare conversations he did have with you had been more subdued. He hadn’t asked about you since the conversation in the medbay and neither had you asked anything about him. It was almost like before Kiros. The only difference was that he felt slightly less irritated now. Aside from when he had entered the same room as Plink. The little droid had been very intolerant of his presence on the ship during those few days. Which is why it was a relief once he’d left the ship with you after landing on Ord Mantell.

Standing in Cid's office, he watched silently with a toothpick in his mouth as you explained why the job took so long to finish.

"Why am I not surprised?" Cid asked with exasperation. You frowned at her.

"This is only the third time something like this has happened! The rest of your clients and contacts are usually slimy dickheads," you said.

Cid sat down at her desk "I'll be sure to let Phee know that next time she asks for your help on a job."

You winced, "Okay, hey now, I didn't mean her and you know that."

Whoever this "Phee" was, she must be closer to Cid than most clients, Crosshair deduced.

"Uhuh." Cid responded,an almost teasing edge to her tone, "Here's the pay."

"And take a few days off, Smiles," she added as she handed the case off. You frowned at her.

"I'm fine, Cid. I don't need a vacation."

"You still have a concussion," Crosshair pointed out.

You looked at him with betrayal and back to Cid again. The Trandoshan woman had her arms crossed, looking unamused.

"I'll call you after, when there's another job lined up," her tone left no room for argument.

"Fine," you caved.

"Good. Now that that's settled, I'm kicking you two out of my office. I've got company coming soon," she gestured towards the door.

"Are your 'best' guys back or something?" you grumbled halfheartedly.

"You want me to give your next job to them?"

"Okay, leaving now. Let's go, Crosshair," you said with a sheepish smile and quickly walked out the door.

"Keep an eye on them for me, Toothpick," Cid said nonchalantly. She may put on a gruff front, but Crosshair could tell her words came from a place of concern.

He acknowledged her with a nod before leaving and throwing his toothpick in one of the trash bins on the way out.

The walk back to the spaceport was leisurely, though the market streets seemed to be very crowded today. You practically dragged him to a stall a minute later so you could get some Mantell Mix. He declined when you asked if he wanted some.

"I don't know why Cid's so worried, I'm fine," you said as you shoveled a handful of the mix into your mouth.

Crosshair walked alongside you and drifted closer as the walkway began to get more crowded. It was beginning to make him feel a little claustrophobic, but the spaceport wasn't too much farther ahead.

"She seems to care about your well-being," he pointed out.

"Yeah, I know…been a while since I had someone like that in my life." You suddenly got quiet and he looked over to see you deep in thought.

He was about to question that statement, but then you smiled and picked up a piece of Mantell Mix.

"You know, we don’t have this kind of snack where I'm from," you said, "And funnily enough, we grew what they use to make it. It was also the first thing I ate when I got to Ord Mantell. I think that just goes to show that your past can follow you where you least expect it."

Crosshair almost stumbled as his mind conjured up what happened in the cave with Hara and Kuli again. He frowned and decided to ask you a question instead of dwelling on his guilt.

"And where are you from?"

You studied the piece of Mantell Mix with a thoughtful look.

"Dantooine. I'm from Dantooine," you replied, popping it into your mouth.

"The farming planet?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but I lived in the biggest city there. Which really wasn’t all that big compared to somewhere like here, but it was home," you said with a sigh.

He knew not to push further than that. What he didn't expect was a question for a question. Though in hindsight it was only fair.

"How many brothers were in your squad?" you asked, peaking over at him before staring into the box of mix.

"...Five…" he supplied.

You seemed to hesitate before speaking up again, "...Back on K–"

"Watch where you're walking!" a pedestrian yelled after he’d collided with you.

Crosshair quickly grabbed your arm as you apologized, clutching your container of Mantell Mix, and pulled you along. He expected you to finish asking your question, but you said nothing else. If he was honest with himself, Crosshair didn’t think he would have been ready to answer whatever it might've been. Silently, a piece of Mantell Mix entered his line of sight. Despite not caring for it, he still accepted it with an outstretched palm.

"Do you wanna try the new flavor they have next time?" you asked.

"Not a chance," he answered

"You're so stubborn," you said, but the corner of your mouth lifted up into a sort-of smile.

"It's called having good taste," he said.

"How do you even know what ‘taste’ is after eating ration bars for a good portion of your life?" you smirked.

Crosshair scoffed and didn't give a reply. You laughed and he walked on.

On the other side of the crowded market, a familiar group of pedestrians passed them by; caught up in the increasing commotion of a busy afternoon. A man with a skull tattoo on his face and a red bandana wrapped around his head stopped abruptly. He’d picked up a familiar sounding voice, but when he tried to listen for it again, it was gone. Lost in the sea of voices conversing around them.

"Something wrong, Hunter?" Echo asked.

Hunter scanned the crowded marketplace, but the oncoming pedestrians obstructed his view.

"...I thought I heard something, but…nevermind," he said with a frown.

"Wrecker, the Mantell Mix!" Omega exclaimed from behind him and she grabbed her brother's hand when she spotted the stall.

Wrecker boosted her up onto his shoulders and they both laughed. Hunter turned and smiled slightly at the sight before his expression turned more serious.

"Not until after we speak to Cid about a job," he stated firmly.

Wrecker looked sheepish as he remembered the reason they were here, "Right. Afterwards."

"She was not pleased about our unplanned absence when we spoke with her last," Tech said from his right side.

"We were laying low. She'll just have to get over it," Echo said bluntly.

Hunter sighed, "The sooner we get there, the less irritated she'll probably be."

"I do not think that will be the case. She is always in varying degrees of annoyance with us," Tech responded.

"She seems to be annoyed with everyone," Echo scoffed.

Hunter shook his head, but he didn’t exactly disagree with that observation. Glancing behind him, the sight of Omega sitting wide-eyed and joyous on Wrecker’s shoulder almost sent him in a spiral of worry again. But he steeled himself and marched on toward Cid’s place, his family loyally following his lead.

End Note: Hehehe.

Meant to have this up Wednesday when the new episode came out, but I needed some serious help revising it. Thank you again to B for beta reading! Emily I'm Sorry by boygenius was on repeat while I wrote the last half of this. And a lot of Sleep Token overall. Now I'm associating Crosshair with their music. I can't think of what else to say, but I'm probably forgetting something. Oops. But anyway, until next chapter😉

Feedback is much appreciated if you feel inclined to give any c: Thank you for reading ❤️

[aaron-m-geist-ff]

Sedaro exhaled slowly. He looked at Josh, his gaze focused.

“I know that Kaine has already made some serious threats. I can assure you that while he is frightening…I am much worse. Don’t cross me again.”

Sedaro’s tone could be considered deadly. It cut through Josh’s pride like a sharpened knife. The redhead certainly wasn’t playing around anymore. He sounded more serious than Josh had expected. For once, Sedaro almost seemed to be sane.

Josh gulped. He nodded, looking towards the door longingly. He found himself wondering what would happen if he simply tried to escape in front of Sedaro. It would be utterly stupid, but he considered it for a brief moment.

“Well! Now that we have discussed your disobedience, I think it’s time that I show you something very important.”

Sedaro rose from his chair, offering a hand to Josh with a smile.

Josh eyed his hand skeptically. He chose not to take it, instead standing up on his own. He grabbed the shirt of his robes and pulled it on quickly. Sedaro’s eyes were on him the entire time. He didn’t seem to be capable of looking anywhere else.

“I hope that you enjoyed your bath last night,” he said.

Josh rolled his eyes at that. He was facing the door, so Sedaro could not see his reaction thankfully. He didn’t like how Sedaro pretended to be sincere sometimes, it was unsettling and he knew that the man didn’t actually care about him.

“It was fine,” Josh muttered. He did not want to speak much. Not after everything that had happened.

Sedaro chuckled.

“Alright! Follow me.”

The man didn’t waste any time. He left the room quickly, leaving the door open so that Josh could follow. He did just that. There was no point in disobeying. He was afraid that if he slipped up again then Kaine would murder his loved ones. Josh would live the rest of his days stuck in the castle if it meant keeping his family safe from harm. He would sacrifice his own life to ensure theirs. He had always been that way, for as long as he could remember.

Sedaro seemed excited. That alone was a frightening sight. If the assassin was happy about something, it couldn’t be anything good. Josh yawned. He was still tired. He could sleep for days and he would still wake up yawning. He couldn’t even truly rest while he slept, he was too on edge to relax properly.

Sedaro was humming softly as he walked down the corridor. It took Josh awhile to realize that he always hummed the same tune. It was quiet and melodic, resembling a lullaby.

“What are you humming?” Josh asked all of a sudden. He was walking behind Sedaro, trying his best to keep as much distance as possible. He had never heard the tune before, it was foreign.

Sedaro stopped.

He grew quiet, as if he had just become aware of his own actions.

“Oh…I didn’t realize that I was! You must think that I’m crazy,” he admitted with a chuckle.

Josh studied him as they continued walking. He didn’t know how it could be possible for someone to not be aware of their actions. He did think that Sedaro was quite crazy. The assassin didn’t make a lot of sense.

“Watch your step!” Sedaro called cheerfully. He flew down the stairway with grace, not making a single noise as usual. Josh tried his best to keep up. It amazed him how silent Sedaro could be. He was a bit taller than the average height, and he had a lot of lean muscle. He was undoubtedly heavier than Josh, and yet he was still quieter.

Josh wondered where they could be going. They had passed by the courtyard. The red poppies seemed to thrive beneath the sun, as did the single apple tree. He recalled that Kaine’s office was on the other side of the castle, he was grateful that they weren’t headed in that direction.

Kaine and Sedaro were romantic partners, that much Josh was sure of. He recalled how they had kissed one another in the torture chamber. It was slow and passionate, the kind of intimacy exchanged between two committed lovers. He could not picture them being together. They were both incredibly different, and…

Josh blushed.

They both seemed rather dominant. He honestly could not tell who would take on a more submissive role if they had sexual encounters. Josh stared at Sedaro’s back as they continued down the hallway. He almost felt guilty having such dirty thoughts, but he was curious for some reason.

He mentally scolded himself for being so inappropriate. Whatever Kaine and Sedaro did behind closed doors was between them. He shouldn’t think of such things, it wasn’t his place.

Josh pulled his sleeves over his hands, trying to remain quiet. He didn’t want Sedaro to strike up a conversation again. The man was intimidating no matter how friendly he attempted to behave.

“We’re here!” Sedaro declared.

They were standing before a single door. It was located on a far wall off the side of the courtyard, out in the open. Josh had passed by a few times on his way to the kitchen, but he had never bothered to look inside. He was afraid to explore too much.

Josh wondered just how Sedaro could seem so cheerful. After all, the man had slaughtered at least one fisherman less than twenty-four hours ago. That apparently was not a rare occurrence for an assassin.

Sedaro opened the door. Josh was immediately hit with a strong aroma. It was pleasant, smelling of poppies and some kind of incense. He stepped inside hesitantly.

“Allow me to introduce you to someone,” Sedaro said.

Josh took several steps forward, attempting to see just what Sedaro wished to expose him to.

He was just about to begin asking some questions when he saw her.

A magnificent statue, standing high and proud at the head of the room. It depicted the body of a slim woman, gray stone giving way to elegantly carved curves. She was magnificent, standing at what must have been ten feet tall. Josh couldn’t take his eyes off of her for even a second. He had stopped dead in his tracks, his lips parted slightly as he attempted to take in the sight. This was unlike anything he had encountered before. He had seen sculptures in the past, often placed in gardens and such. But nothing quite like this. The woman was ethereal, an elegant and transparent gown covering her form just enough. She had long flowing hair, and it was a wonder how anyone could possibly manage to capture such detail in hard stone. Her face was twisted into a look of determination, and it was the face of a woman who was clearly considered beautiful by many. Though her most striking features were her hands. One was at her side, while the other was hoisted in the air, holding something as an act of victory.

Josh squinted at it, stepping closer in an attempt to get a better look.

Shivers ran up his spine when he fully registered just what he was looking upon. There, in the woman’s grasp, was a human heart. It was the only section of the statue which held any color to it, painted with a deep red. Josh tilted his head, his eyes wide. It almost looked like real blood which had dried over time. It was trickling down the statue’s arm, ceasing just before it reached her elbow. It was a ghastly sight, one which tarnished the rest of the otherwise innocent looking woman. He couldn’t fathom why such a statue would even be created in the first place.

Elegantly placed flowers resided at her feet, where she stood upon a raised altar. Josh recognized them as the same flowers from the courtyard, fresh as ever. This room was by far the most extravagant he had encountered, with a high ceiling which arched at the top. And there were painted glass windows behind the huge statue, all of which depicted images of a woman’s figure in various poses. The glass was painted in that same red hue, casting bloody shadows upon the cathedral.

“She goes by many names…”

Josh sucked in a breath as the heavy doors came to a close behind him. He flinched, looking on as Sedaro began walking towards the statue. The man was moving with an air of confidence. He seemed perfectly content to be in this space, with his red hair glistening beneath the painted glass. He looked up at the woman with a look of utter admiration.

“The goddess of bloodshed…Killer of men. Or, most commonly…Hema.”

Josh felt incredibly uneasy as he listened. He could not take his eyes away from the statue no matter how hard he tried to. There was something about the look of triumph on the woman’s face… As if she had accomplished a well sought-after goal. So this was the woman who had supposedly marked Josh at birth. There was a crescent moon carved into the base of the altar. It resembled Josh’s birthmark perfectly.

“Why is she…” Josh began. He was about to ask a question, when Sedaro interrupted him briskly.

“Why is she holding a heart?” He asked.

Josh simply nodded. He continued to stare up at Hema, his mind trying to remember the details of her story.

Sedaro sighed knowingly, gazing up at the statue in an almost loving manner. He smiled.

“Hema is an interesting deity…She used to be a mortal, a human like you and I.”

He cleared his throat as he continued.

“She lived in the ancient world, back when the gods were more prominent. The stories of her human life are few and far between. But, one thing is for certain…She was the first mortal to ever feel the temptations of bloodlust.”

Josh watched Sedaro as he spoke. He seemed to bask in the red lighting, his auburn hair was practically made for it.

Josh was familiar with Hema. Her name was spoken in church services occasionally. He recalled that his mother would often drag him along to church and insist that they stay for the whole sermon. The priest would speak of the four benevolent gods and goddesses. There was Gorvan, the god of humanity and the earth. Teleka was a goddess of wisdom, and Volkan was known for his creation of fire. The most beloved deity was Sylva. Her name was whispered by many people in times of suffering. The legends said that she could heal any human illness.

Of course, with any positive thing, there had to be a negative counterpart.

Hema was known as the malevolent entity which had scorned humanity. Priests would paint her as the ultimate villain, rivaled only by her partner Herloft. Little was known about them. Apparently any and all depictions of Hema’s story were destroyed long ago. The Clyos empire had forbidden the mention of Hema’s name beyond educational purposes. It was considered bad luck to acknowledge her too much.

Josh was never a religious person. He wasn’t sure if the gods even existed. He was aware that the Shadows of Hema obviously worshiped the dark goddess, which made them a cult of sorts.

Sedaro placed a hand upon Josh’s shoulder. He leaned down to match his height.

“Hema was a magnificent woman…She committed the very first murder,” he whispered.

“She was never the villain. She merely wanted to bring justice into the world by avenging herself. She is a friend to humanity. We continue her legacy.”

Josh remained perfectly still as he listened. Sedaro was speaking so softly. He squeezed Josh’s shoulder just a bit, as if to reassure him.

He leaned in even closer…

Josh sucked in a short breath.

Sedaro’s lips grazed the shell of his ear.

“…I need you to understand,” he murmured carefully.

“My sweet prophet.”

Josh shuddered. He couldn’t move even if he tried. Sedaro stole all of his senses just by whispering in such a way. The man had to know what he was doing in that very moment. Josh was behaving like a frightened deer and Sedaro was encouraging it. He knew exactly which tone to use in order to make Josh listen.

There was something about the cathedral that made Josh stay put. He almost felt as though he was in a trance. He didn’t hate that Sedaro was close to him. He spoke so gently…

Sedaro seemed to notice that Josh didn’t want to run. He pushed his luck even further, allowing his lips to trail downward.

Josh held his breath.

Sedaro’s lips were warm. They gently kissed along his neck.

“I-“ Josh choked helplessly. He instinctively turned his head to the side, exposing his throat even more. Sedaro’s hand had somehow found its way to Josh’s waist. He held him from behind possessively.

“Shh…” Sedaro soothed.

Josh’s heart was beating in his ears. He closed his eyes, furrowing his brows together. He couldn’t think straight for some reason. He couldn’t understand why he was allowing such things to happen. His body even seemed to crave it.

Sedaro pressed against Josh’s back, caging him in entirely.

“There… You’re safe, see?”

Josh made a soft noise at that. His mind felt foggy. He couldn’t fully process the situation. All he knew was Sedaro’s voice sounded soothing. He did feel safe.

Those lips continued to explore, trailing hotly over Josh’s neck.

Sedaro kissed his birthmark. It was a loving action, and it made Josh’s heart flutter in his chest.

He liked the feeling of Sedaro’s hands on his waist. They were possessive, claiming what belonged to them. Josh could feel Sedaro’s nails digging into him through the fabric of his robes. It was a silent display of dominance.

Josh felt cold all of a sudden. The warmth of Sedaro’s touch had left him. He snapped out of his trance, immediately feeling a sense of guilt wash over him.

…He had just let Sedaro hold him. Sedaro kissed Josh’s neck, and held his waist as if they were lovers. Josh didn’t even fight him. He was disgusted by himself. He couldn’t understand how that could have been possible. He hated Sedaro, absolutely despised him. He would have never agreed to such an interaction if he had been in his right mind.

“Well…I should be going,” Sedaro said lightly. He had walked around Josh, bowing like some sort of gentleman.

He took Josh’s left hand, placing a delicate kiss upon it. He winked.

“Until we meet again,” he teased.

Sedaro chuckled darkly as Josh yanked his own hand away.

Josh glared at him with anger. He didn’t want to accept what had just occurred, and Sedaro seemed so cheeky to have gotten away with it. He appeared to be proud of himself as he walked away with that ridiculous smirk on his face.

Josh scowled to himself, wiping at his own neck as if to rid himself of those kisses. He felt as though he was going crazy. He hadn’t acted like himself just then, it was like he was under some kind of spell.

Josh stared up at the statue with hatred. If Hema was real, then he severely disliked her. He didn’t care about what Sedaro had said. The man apparently believed that Hema was a misunderstood hero. Josh didn’t give a damn about any of that. He just wanted to live a normal life, far away from the Shadows of Hema. He wanted to be in control of his own actions.

There was no logical explanation for what had just occurred between Josh and Sedaro. If there was, then Josh refused to admit to such a thing. He hated the assassins. They were monsters. He would never willingly allow one to kiss his neck in such a way. He would simply have to put it all behind him, pretend that it never happened in the first place.

That should work. It had to.

_______________________________________________

[rreskk]

Hi ! Could you write a Michael x Reader where Reader is his terapist and for an appointment Michael was drunk? She tried to have a normal session with him but it's finished in a smut way

A/N: Crikey Mikey is always welcomed into the world of my chaotic writing.

Summary: He's drunk and out of his mind yet you find yourself down bad... Literally.

TW: Smut.

“I’m going to refer you to someone more advanced and capable of your criminal history.” You professionally proclaimed while hiding your cheap smile from behind your clipboard.

Michael had stumbled in, drunken and lost. He was crouching before you, teasing and morally acting upon dangerous things. You were single but him? Married. Yet his hand is still burning your thigh.

“I don’t think you should.” He responded effortlessly while under the influence of whiskey and rum. His voice cracked in between; giving him a pitiful whining sound that made you blush.

You had been his therapist for almost a year now and, beyond denial, you had started to favour the man. He was charming and repressed. You always had kept it confidential and professional, even when he’s in a state like this.

Michael yearned for you to give in but you held a steady hand.

“I’m sorry, Michael, but this is a working relationship.”

He bitterly frowned- lingering backwards as he fell into a phase of angst (that was presumably built up after he represses it).

“You know my wife don’t sleep with me anymore,” He foretold. “I’m touch-starved. I’m a lonely son of a bitch.”

You nodded your head understandably and began taking notes.

Michael noticed as he scoffed out the breath of acidic liquor.

“This is not apart of the session.”

You acknowledged how serious he was despite being drunk. A small sigh left your parted lips and you could only think of the time he rubbed your thigh. You were in need of some pleasure; pleasure being forbidden with clients.

“I’m sorry about that. I’d love to talk to you further but I assure you would not appreciate your drunk remarks.”

He chuckled deeply to himself before asserting a dominant presence.

“Right… Because you’d prefer something else.”

Your eyes grew wide. “Pardon?”

Michael felt the taste of whiskey stain his tongue as he’d speak further.

“Come on, [Y/N], I know you want to.”

He leaned forward and grazed a shaky finger against the hem of your skirt. It would toggle forwards; urging itself up your leg until you painfully nudged him away.

“Michael, I’ll lose my job.”

The man ignored your concerns and replaced his finger with his strong hand. Now that your thigh was being exploited by the hands of Michael, you couldn’t back away now. He held a firm grip on you. Physically and mentally. The risk was real but you followed through and decided to pleasure your desires, as he seemed to have the right idea on his stupid, intoxicated mind.

“Kneel down.” Michael slurred.

He was now stood right above you, a steady hand resting on the back of your head. Kneeling down, you heard him grow a satisfied hum. Looking straight ahead, his bulge was facing your watery lips. It stared and twitched for your warmth.

Michael unlocked his belt and swiftly lowered his trousers to expose the readily fuelled dick that intimidated you beyond belief.

“Now this is therapy.” He smirked as you began circling his tip.

The manners of your tongue grew more engaged and hallow. While you edged slowly, Michael began thrusting into your hungry mouth. His hips rolled forward and you took in his length, squirming and moaning.

“Fuck, that’s it, baby.” Michael praised. His head leaned back and he encouraged the sensation of lust overtake the alcohol abuse.

You returned the favour and rocked your head in a repeated cycle, gaining a slight idea of his sensitive parts as whenever you licked against his tip, he’d twitch and almost combust. Suddenly you had forgotten you were supposed to be working. As time would slip away, the clock carried on ticking. If your next client enters the room while ungodly scenery is happening, you’d be reported and kicked off with a wasted degree of psychology, all because you were savouring the taste of Michael’s lust.

“That’s right, that’s right-“ He panted.

You felt him tense as the build up of cum strained the dick that was hanging in your mouth. You gagged once last time before he violated your throat with his fluids. Once he had orgasmed, his roughened body slumped and Michael fell back onto his seat, leaving you to wipe the drips from your lip and swallow the salty liquids.

“Fuck me, baby.” Michael cracked a smile and offered you his hand.

Hesitantly intwining fingers, the man embraced you lovingly and the heaviness of his voice fell.

“Thank you.”

Thinking about it now? You probably won’t refer him to another psychologist.

[simpforboys]

in another dimension (4)

she/her pronouns

mentions of no way home spoilers! proceed with caution!

summary: a few months went by, y/n and peter now officially a couple. with a new villain rising, y/n needs some reassurance.

warnings: mentions of violence, death, wounds, cleaning wounds, some angst

last part , next part

six months can go by sickeningly fast.

but, when your boyfriend is spider-man it feels as if time is stuck in a loop.

y/n decided to move into peter’s apartment since they both made it clear this was a serious commitment they both wanted.

peter watches the neighborhood from seven pm to three am, always sneaking back through the window y/n kept open for him.

one night, however, peter got a scare when he crawled through the window. he didn’t think y/n saw him, but the way he heard her cries made his heart drop.

“y/n?” he mumbled. he slipped his gloves off and her broken face peeked out at him.

“what’s wrong, darling?” he asked. he didn’t want to take off his suit just yet and expose the bruises he just freshly got.

“bad dream,” she whispered.

he slipped into the bed that was placed in the middle of the room, an adjustment they made together.

“wanna talk about it?” he asked. he pulled her in closely, feeling the way her heart was rapidly beating.

“i-i lost you. you met a-a,” her voice was shaking as she sobbed into his chest.

“it’s okay, i’m right here. ‘m never gonna go anywhere, okay?” he assured her.

“i’m sorry,” she sniffled. peter’s heart ached.

“why are you sorry, my love?”

“i feel selfish- you’re out there saving lives and i’m stuck here crying about you getting hurt.”

“y/n, you’ve never dated a superhero before. it’s going to take some getting used to, but i can promise you, i am never going away.”

y/n nodded, clutching onto him tightly. peter fought the urge to wince.

when she finally calmed down and drifted off to sleep, peter needed to take his suit off and finally get comfortable.

he gently pulled away from her, finally taking off the skin tight clothing. his face cringed when he saw the deep blue bruises coating his chest and stomach.

a group of robbers got some good hits on him, one of them being six-foot-five and at least three hundred pounds.

he grabbed a wet cloth and gently cleaned around the small open cuts in his shoulder, trying not to wake y/n.

he didn’t need her to see him like this and just worry her further. suddenly, he jumped slightly when she appeared in the mirror behind him.

her eyes were transfixed on his abs and peter hated how her face was filled with concern.

“what happened?”

“robbers,” he answered. he felt her presence move forward until she was gently grazing his skin with her fingertips.

goosebumps erupted across his body as she brushed against his happy trail.

“lemme help you, okay?”

-

the couple began talking about nonsense, but the conversation progressed deeper.

eventually, it lead to them talking until the sun peeked through the windows.

peter opened up to y/n more about gwen and his uncle ben’s death.

“how about you? i feel like we talk about my trauma a lot.”

y/n sighed, sinking back into the bed sheets. peter rested on his elbow, looking at y/n as she stared up at the ceiling.

y/n began telling peter about her childhood, family, middle and high school experiences.

“yeah, this one bitch kissed my boyfriend right in front of me. i was so pissed.”

peter began giggling, making y/n laugh.

“looking back on it now, it’s sounds stupid considering we were only dating for three days. he wasn’t even cute.”

“harsh,” peter faked cringed. y/n grinned.

“he was never as cute as you,” she flirted.

peter smirked. “oh?”

he leaned down, planting kisses on her smiling lips.

“love my spider-bae.”

“what did you just call me?” he laughed.

“spider-bae. you’re a spider but you’re still my bae, you know?”

“never heard that before.”

“good, because you’re my spider-bae.”

“here we go with the nickname,” he teased. y/n grinned.

“i think i’ll change your contact to that. has a nice ring to it.”

peter was smiling down at y/n, but his smile began fading when his ears started ringing.

“what’s happening?” y/n whispered to him.

his brows furrowed and he crawled out of bed, slipping his suit on.

“spider duties?”

“i- i can’t quite tell yet. it feels… different.”

“please be safe,” she stood up after him.

he pressed a sensual kiss to her lips.

“i’ll be back as soon as i can, okay?”

she nodded at him and he zipped out through the window.

peter swung on top of a higher building, perching himself on the edge as he stared out towards the city.

his whole body was tingling and he felt as if his feet were quaking under him.

he could hear the agonizing screams from civilians under him, so he quickly sprung into action.

equipping a web, he swung to what everyone was running away from.

a giant- holy shit is that an alien?

a giant black figure with big muscles threw a tree as it screeched.

“hey, big guy! let’s keep the tree throwing to a minimum, okay?” peter called out.

the creature narrowed its eyes at peter and he felt chills run down his spine. the creature’s tongue was strangely large and it smirked at peter.

“where’s y/n?” its remarkably deep voice asked.

peter’s stomach dropped.

[raewritez]

take care of you

summary: Your worry about the future and are used to taking care of your friends. Luckily, Zuko is there to take care of you.

a/n: i don’t realllyyy ship Zutara but one of the aspects i love about their relationship is that Zuko is virtually the only person that Katara doesn’t have to act as a mother to, so I was largely inspired by that dynamic.

requested?: nope!

—————

Your fingers ran shakily through your hair, air escaping your lips in uneven breaths. You shut the heavy door behind you, coming to sit upon the air temple’s sturdy bed that rested in the center of your given bedroom. You had been fine until a few minutes ago, you had been enjoying the crispness of the air and warmth of the sun until the words of quiet voices had floated to your ears. Whispers of Aang and his destiny, of death and murder and war. The other people, they expected Aang to be able to kill the Firelord just like that, to abandon his childhood and sense of self in a split moment of violence. You knew he couldn’t do that, you loved him like a brother and if there was one thing you knew for sure it was that Aang’s heart of gold was impenetrable. You had glanced down to wear he stood with Zuko, arms raised in an aggressive stance, the fire that spouted from his palms betraying his lighthearted nature. The image had left you breathless, your protective side alighted against the cruel expectations of this twelve-year-old boy, of your dear friend.

You were upset, and you knew there was nothing you could do about it. Killing the Firelord was Aang’s destiny, and it couldn’t be altered by simple adoration or protectiveness. It shouldn’t be Aang, the weight of the world shouldn’t fall on the back of this war-born child, but it was. Your head rested in your hands, mind swimming with attempts to ward off images of death and fire and the ideas of fate and destiny. You felt silly being so affected by the muttered words of children while your friends were out there training and fighting their own battles. You were disrupted from your emotional state by the creaking of a door and the appearance of a shaggy head of black hair.

You lifted your head, plastering on a smile. “Hey, Zuko. What’s up?”

He stepped in quietly, closing the door behind him. “Hey, Y/n, I just...” his eyes darted between the walls, his hand raising to rake through his hair. “Well, I saw you leaving, and you seemed upset. So I thought I would just...come check on you.”

A genuine grin made its way to your face, worries muted and heart softened at the boy’s thoughtfulness. “Thanks, Zuko. That’s nice of you. You don’t need to worry about me, though, I just...got a little upset is all.”

His amber eyes flashed with concern, and you questioned why he cared so much for how you were feeling. You certainly cared about him, caring about people was basically your job after all, acting as the protector of the group and the only one that Katara would allow to take care of her. You cared for him, truthfully maybe more than you should, but you weren’t aware of the extent of his care for you. 

His feet brought him closer, seating himself before you at the edge of the bed. “Why are you upset?” he questioned, sincerity pouring from his voice. “Did someone do something? Or did something happen? If it did, I can-”

“Nothing happened, Zuko,” you cut him off, lifting your fingers to shyly play with the strands of your hair. “Nothing happened, really, it’s just...” he gazed at you with imploring eyes. You sighed. “It’s just that I’m upset about everything going on, all the stuff with Aang and what he has to do, and it’s stupid. I shouldn’t be upset, I mean, I’m obviously used to everything by now, but...I’m just worried about him.”

He searched his mind, he was never good at comforting people. You were always good at that, always listening to him and reassuring him in ways no-one had ever managed to. He wanted to repay the favor, to make you happy like you made him, but he didn’t possess the talent of assurance and comfort. Instead, with a certain boldness to his movement, he grasped your hand from its place in your hair with his own. 

“He’ll be okay, Y/n. He's a talented kid,” his thumb stoked your knuckles. “The comet is weeks away and he’ll be ready. He’ll be ready.”

Your eyes were glued to the spot his hand met yours, unable to focus on anything but the heat emanating from his palm. You nodded softly with appreciation, lifting your fingers to reciprocate his caring touch. Your lips parted and you found it difficult to breathe, your stomach and lungs occupied by swarms of butterflies. Your eyes met his, and you found yourself captivated by the intensity in his stare.

You stayed locked in that position, his eyes glued to yours and your hands interlocked. He lifted your arm, playing with your fingers and pressing a kiss to the inside of your wrist. “You worry too much.”

You ignored the blush rising to your cheeks. “I think I worry just the right amount. Someone has to.”

He shook his head. “You shouldn’t have to. Someone needs to take care of you every once in a while.” 

“Oh yeah?” you questioned breathlessly. “Like who?”

His eyes met yours and you could’ve sworn you saw him lean forward before the silence was broken by knocking against your door.

“Y/n! Sokka screwed up dinner and we need your help before Katara kills us.”

You recognized Toph’s voice and pulled out of Zuko’s grasp.

“Sounds serious,” you chuckled. “I’ll be right there.”

“Mkay!”

You sighed softly, averting your gaze from Zuko’s as awkward silence filled the atmosphere. “I should probably go help them.”

He nodded, masking his slight disappointment as he rose to allow you an exit. Your shoulder brushed his as you passed, and the two of you ignored the electricity as you emerged from the confines of the small room.

///

“Appa, yip yip!”

The smell of charred wood filled the air, fire flinging past your face as the soldiers advanced. Aang was lifting off, fleeing the onslaught of flames as you crumbled the earth surrounding the men to allow them an escape.

He glanced back, alarm filling his face at the sight of you. “Y/n, come on!” he yelled, looking at you with worry.

You grunted as you threw rock after rock at your persecutors. “It’s ok, Aang, just go! I’ll be fine!”

“What?! No! Y/n, just-” he cut himself off as a figure dressed in red jumped from Appa, landing on the edge of the cliffside.

“Get out of here, Aang,” Zuko spoke. “I’ll take care of her.”

Aang glanced back in worry before yanking Appa’s reigns and flying off the other way.

Zuko turned, running towards you as you fended off the soldiers with concaving ground and heavy boulders. He intercepted the fire of the remaining men, channeling it and striking towards them. As they stumbled back from the impact Zuko grabbed your arm and sped into the refuge of the forest, shielding your body from possible incoming attacks.

He pulled you along through the winding trees, twigs snapping under your feet as you did your best to catch your breath. When he slowed down you lifted your eyes to find the entrance of a small cave nestled between the rocks. 

“Guess this is home for the night.” Zuko tilted his head to glance at you, taking note of your furrowed brows and flushed face. “You ok?”

You quickly nodded your head. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for coming back.”

“I wouldn’t leave you behind,” he smiled.

You looked at him gratefully before raising your arms to maneuver the stone around the entrance of the cave. Once the hole was deemed large enough the two of you crawled inside, Zuko’s hands protectively supporting your waist as go ensure you wouldn’t fall.

The inside was dreary, uneven walls forming to shelter the small patch of ground while the light of the sun was blocked out as you ventured further. Your feet ached, legs bruised and hair messed from the abrupt attacks. Zuko kept sneaking glances, worried by the tiredness of your movement and the absence of your usual optimism and cheerfulness. You made your way over to the edge of the cave, sitting down and resting your back against the sturdy wall. Zuko crept over beside you, lowering himself close to your body and staring warily at the cave’s entrance. 

You picked at your nails. “Do you think they’ll be ok?”

He snapped towards you in disbelief. You were seriously worried about that right now? “They’ll be fine, Y/n. They’re long gone by now and Aang will be back for us in the morning.”

You agreed hesitantly before leaning your head against the wall. You peered through the hole of the cave, catching sight of the sky beginning to fade to reds and purples. “Maybe we should get some sleep. If the soldiers come back we’ll need our energy.”

Zuko nodded, moving to lie down while putting a respectable amount of space between the two of you. You drifted off to the sound of Zuko’s even breathing and the warmth that was carried from his body to yours.

///

You jolted awake to wind swirling inside the cave, the coldness piercing your skin like a knife. Your lips were tinted blue, the tips of your fingers aching and nose freezing to the touch. You pushed yourself off the hard ground, lifting your knees to your chest and curling in on yourself. Zuko was beside you, sleeping peacefully, seemingly unbothered by the chilliness of the night.

You stood up, walking around in attempt to warm yourself up and find a more sheltered part of the tiny cave. Zuko woke up to your shuffling, bleary eyes latching onto your shivering figure.

“Y/n?” he questioned in a raspy voice. “What's going on?”

“Oh, sorry Zuko,” you said sheepishly. “It’s just a little chilly.”

He assumed a pensive demeanor, eyes shifting mindfully before speaking.

“Come here.”

“What?”

“You’re cold and I can warm you up. Come here.”

You made your way awkwardly over to him, trying to ignore the blush that rose to your face at his implication.

You sat down next to him, sitting in silence before his arm hesitantly wrapped around your shoulders, bringing you closer. You sighed, he did feel warm. You subconsciously nuzzled closer to the sanctuary of your friend’s embrace until minutes later you were practically on top of him. You rested comfortably against his torso, his lean arms cradling you to his chest.

He breathed into your hair, careful not to accidentally light it on fire with his nervousness. He closed his eyes, relishing in your presence.

“Thanks, Zuko,” you whispered.

He smiled. “No problem.”

You raised your head to look at him, unsaid words lingering on your tongue. He stared at you questioningly as you searched for your voice, becoming distracted by the way your eyelashes danced across your cheeks and your lip was pulled between your teeth. 

“What is it?”

You swallowed. “It’s nothing...never mind.”

He raised an eyebrow, slowly linking his fingers with yours. “You can tell me, if you want to.”

“I know I can, but it’s silly. I’m just thinking too much.”

He lifted your hand, fingers tracing over the scars and lines, thumb stroking fondly against your skin. “If it’s about the group, they’re fine. They know what they're doing, and they can take care of themselves.”

You chuckled. “Most of them. I don’t know about Sokka though. He needed help rolling up his sleeping bag this morning.”

Zuko laughed lightly, reaching to brush away the hair that had fallen into your face. “Yeah, maybe not Sokka. But Katara’ll keep him in line. You can take a break from taking care of them...” he trailed off, amber eyes moving to yours. “Just let me take care of you for now.”

You felt your heartbeat quicken at his gaze, skin set alight by the way his fingers traced over it. He held nothing but sincerity and tenderness in his voice, and his eyes conveyed a deep fondness. You couldn’t help it when your eyes trailed to the curve of his nose, the splashes of freckles, and down to his lips. He raised your hand, pressing a kiss to the inside of your wrist. In a burst of courage you moved your palm to cup his cheek, fingertips ghosting against the rugged edge of his scar. 

His own eyes felt heavy, pulled down by some magnetic force that drew him closer to you. At your caring touch, he moved his hand to the back of your neck and tilted your chin towards his. His lips met yours, eyelids slipping closed as you moved your own against his. He pulled you impossibly closer, handling you with such gentleness and affection that you wondered if you would implode. You ran your fingers through his hair, the soft stands filtering through them like water. He grasped your hips, lifting his mouth to meet yours in a seemingly never-ending heavenly embrace. You broke apart with a smile, the long-overdue kiss lightening your heart and sending butterflies through your stomach.

He grinned against you, stroking his thumb against your cheek before pulling your head to nestle in the crook of his neck. He breathed into your hair, pressing  his lips against the crown of your head. He nuzzled into you, his hair tickling your face as you felt yourself surrounded by him. You felt reassured, your friends would be fine and you felt relieved by the fact that you didn’t really need to worry about Zuko. He would take care of you, after all.

[sunder-soul]

As requested, a Part II to the prompt from @riddles-wifey​​ about jealous Tom!

PART I HERE! 💖

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.

Jealousy

Summary: Reader tries to avoid Tom following their strange confrontation, fails miserable, a very different kind of confrontation ensues.

Word count: 1.5k Content warning: making out, nothing too serious.

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.

“Something weird happened,” you say bluntly, falling into the seat next to Margot in Transfiguration the next morning.

She immediately looks up from her textbook.

“With Riddle,” you add quietly, glancing around the classroom to check for onlookers and potential eavesdroppers.

Margot’s brows shoot up and a wide grin splits her face. “Are you serious?” she whispers excitedly, leaning in.

“Yeah,” you mutter, pulling out your Transfiguration textbook and some parchment. “I think he thought that me and Varrowe were dating…”

“And?” Margot says immediately, so focused on you that she doesn’t notice Dumbledore stride into the room (which is rather impressive considering he’s dressed in vibrant lime green robes with glittering gold fastenings.)

“He got all mad last night when he saw us together, but then when I told him that I was Varrowe’s tutor, he…” You trail off, twirling your quill in your fingers, very unsure how to even describe what had happened.

“Yes?” Margot prompts, still grinning.

“He got all up close and… intense,” you mumble with a wave of your hand, feeling your cheeks grow warm.

Margot looks delighted. “And?”

“And nothing,” you shrug, dejectedly writing the date at the top of your parchment. “After that he just… left.”

“Sweet Snidgets above,” Margot says, shaking her head with a wry smile on her face. “You snagged Riddle.”

“I haven’t snagged anyone!” you whisper hastily, glancing around again. “And keep your voice down!”

“I’m so proud of you,” she says theatrically, completely ignoring your panic. “Merlin’s beard, wait until poor Olive Hornby finds out, she’s been planning their wedding since first year –”

“She’s not going to find out anything,” you say pointedly, narrowing your eyes, “because there’s nothing to find out!”

“Sure, sure,” Margot winks, “so what are you going to do?”

“Dunno,” you mutter, “I guess just avoid him for the rest of time.”

“Avoid him?” she repeats, looking scandalised. “Are you completely stupid? Why would you –”

“My deepest apologies, Miss Droope,” Dumbledore calls from the front of the room, making the both of you jump and wheel around in your seats as the entire class turns to look at you. “I’m afraid I must interrupt your conversation with the minor inconvenience of today’s lesson,” he continues with a sparkle in his eye. “Perhaps you two might find a time outside of class to continue your discussion.”

“Sorry Professor,” you both mutter, hastily bending over your notes.

Dumbledore resumes the class, but the side-eye grin that Margot shoots you assures you that you are most definitely not off the hook yet.

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.

Your plan to avoid Riddle works right up until the exact moment that it doesn’t.

It’s a rainy Monday night about a week after the strange conversation with Riddle and you’re holed up in the library with the most gruelling History of Magic assignment you’ve ever had – a sixty inch dissertation on the contributing factors of the Giant Wars.

You throw your quill down and sigh, staring up at the droplets trickling down the dark window and listening to the relentless thrum of the rain. Your eyes are aching and your brain feels like fuzz – it’s definitely time for a break.

You get up and wander down the nearby shelves, vaguely searching for a particular text and fully intending on taking as long as possible to find it, when just like that you round the corner and see Riddle standing in the middle of the aisle.

You freeze.

He hasn’t seen you yet, peering attentively at a text open in one hand as the other traces down its table of contents. You take a slow step back, and right as you think you might get away without drawing his attention, his head swivels around and his eyes flash to yours.

There’s a very loaded pause in which you must look a lot like a deer caught in headlights.

“Evening,” Riddle says smoothly, snapping his book shut with one hand and sliding it back onto the shelf.

“Hi,” you say awkwardly.

“I haven’t seen you around very much lately,” Riddle says casually, leaning against the bookshelf beside him.

“I’ve been busy,” you mutter, avoiding his even gaze as you scan the shelves for the book you’re looking for.

“Oh I’m sure,” he says softly.

You grit your teeth and squint at the books in front of you, determined to ignore him.

“What are you looking for?” Riddle asks.

“Modern Gigantomachy,” you say reluctantly.

“Which edition?”

You glance around at him. He’s still leaning against the bookshelf, looking annoyingly attractive, the waves of his black hair contrasting with his skin, the fine angles of his brows above his dark eyes, the knowing curl on his lips as he watches you –

“Fourth,” you say quickly before you can get too distracted.

Riddle pushes off the bookshelf and is suddenly mere inches in front of you. Your heart immediately lurches as you take an instinctive step away and your back hits the shelf behind you. Riddle delicately arches a brow at your reaction, his eyes fixed on yours as he slowly reaches up to a shelf far above you and slides a book off of it. He hands it to you and you take it automatically.

“Thanks,” you breathe, staring at him wide-eyed.

“Of course,” Riddle says softly.

There’s another silence. Neither of you have moved an inch, and you begin to wonder exactly how many times you’re going to end a hair’s breadth away Riddle before one of you finally caves –

“You’ve been avoiding me,” he murmurs, a smirk building on his lips.

Your heart stops for a second. “You were jealous of Varrowe,” you blurt out.

Riddle’s smirk falls. He lifts a hand to rest on the shelf above your head, leaning over you very unnervingly. “Jealous?” he repeats sharply

“Yeah,” you breathe, slightly horrified that you’d actually said it out loud. “You were.”

Something works in Riddle’s jaw as he glares down at you, and you hug the book he gave you closer to your chest.

“And why would I be jealous of Varrowe?” he whispers.

You blink at him. Riddle is close, too close, his eyes raking across your face as he looms over you, something almost possessive about his hand above your head. There’s no mistaking the sudden shift in the air between you.

You’re leaning up onto the balls of your feet without thinking twice.

Your lips brush against his, so softly that the kiss is barely there, but enough to send your heart hammering as you pull back just far enough to check his reaction. Your cheeks are aflame and your lips are tingling, unable to believe what you’ve just done as the silence stretches on and on, as Riddle stares back at you, frozen in place with something you can’t recognise burning in his dark eyes.

The faintest frown appears between Riddle’s brow, and then slowly, very slowly, he’s leaning down towards you. Your breath hitches. His lips meet yours at the exact same moment that he steps in closer, crowding you back against the shelf, soft and warm, kissing you with a smooth, relentless pressure and you’re leaning up into it without even realising what you’re doing, thoughts swirling, heat on your skin, stomach twisting –

Riddle is pulling the book from your hands and carelessly dropping it to the floor, taking you by the waist and lifting you up as he steps in again, pinning you to against the bookshelf without breaking the kiss. Your hands card into the soft waves of his hair and his grip on your waist tightens as you wrap your legs around him. The first touch of his tongue makes you gasp against his lips, and Riddle’s fingers immediately tangle in your hair to pull you harder against him. Riddle’s mouth is moving against yours, hungry and unyielding, and you’re getting dizzy as heat curls in your stomach –

He pulls away very suddenly. You stare at him in surprise, breathing hard. Riddle’s lips are slick and his eyes have gone black, one of his hands still buried in your hair and the other gripping your hip so tightly that you’re sure that you’ll have bruises in the pattern of his fingers tomorrow.

“We are in the middle of the library,” he murmurs against your lips. It takes a lot to resist shivering at the sound of his voice.

“We… could… go somewhere else…” you manage to say, your heart racing so hard that he can surely hear it.

A small smirk builds on his face. “What about your essay?” he says smoothly, so close that your lips start aching to close the scant distance between you –

“I think technically I just had my textbook confiscated by a prefect,” you whisper with a flicker of a smile, “so there’s my alibi.”

Riddle breathes a laugh, and then his lips are on yours once more.

Thanks for asking for a sequel @bluehydrangea-cherry​ and @the-almond-dinger 💖

[mozak-hh]

Genshin impact headcanon:

Jealous Boys:

Includes: Kaeya, Diluc, Childe, Xiao, Zhongli 

Rating: Spicy~ but mainly sfw (kinda yandere when I think about it now-)

NSFW ENDING - link

Kaeya: 

Opposite to his cheerful demeanour, Kaeya easily gets jealous. Like very easily. He hasn’t had many serious relationships before. So the sight of you with someone else sends him ice cold with possession. 

When he notices you getting particularly friendly with another man. He sees it as outright competition, even if you don’t like the guy like that.  

Suddenly Kaeya is around you much more often. Always walking you around town, helping you with commissions, bringing you flowers, complementing you. At first it’s like a honeymoon phase, but after some time, you begin to question his behaviour more. So you outright ask him one night at dinner.

“Can I not spoil my lady?~ what’s wrong with that?” He’ll deny it at first, but when he realises his feeling as utter jealousy he’ll cave. Instead of the courting, he’ll get much more physical with you. Touching your thigh, sliding his hand down your back, caressing your side. Primal stares and growls at the man that keeps talking to you. If you’ve been talking to him for too long, he’ll drag you away. 

It’ll take you scolding him to get him to stop. Tell him he’s the only one for you, and he’s acting stupid. But that doesn’t mean he wont take you to bed after just to make sure you know for sure. 

Under all that skin is just a big ball of trust issues, so he’ll always dramatise your relationships with other guys. But after the first incident he’s a lot better. Instead of dragging you away from males he’ll stare at you with a longing look until you stop talking to them. It’s very amusing to Diluc.  

Diluc: 

No, No! He’s not Jealous! definitely not, certainly... 

…

He’s hopeless. 

Kaeya drags him for it

Not as obvious about it than Kaeya, but you can definitely see him simmering in the corner when he finds you with some other man. It’s a friendly conversation between you two, but to him all he can see is your smile and the way your eyes lit up at their words. 

He’s way of showing his possession of you would be keeping you in the winery. Suddenly he’s needed there all the time, and you must come with him. Want to go to Mondstadt? What ever it is you need, he’ll get someone to go fetch it. Want music? he’ll play for you. Bored? come play chess. He’s frantic about keeping you at home. So when he wakes up and notices you not in his bed he freaks. He asks everyone if they’ve seen you, and when that doesn’t work he sends a messenger to Jean. It reaches mid-afternoon when he’s hunched over his desk, worrying about all the things you could be doing. Who could’ve snatched you up and take you away from him. 

“Diluc, I’m Back!” He trips over his own feet at the sound of your return. Walking through the door holding the arm of his worst case scenario… Kaeya. 

“Kaeya asked me to help him with some preparations. We brought back some dinner, lets eat.” Prick. Kaeya knew exactly what his brother was doing. So of course he’d show up here with you on his arm. Diluc was spitting fire by the time you went to hug him. Kaeya going to set the table. 

It catches him off guard when you slide your arms up his chest to rest on his shoulders. Whispering in his ear. 

“Relax Diluc, I have a present for you after, my treat~” He gulps as his eyes darken, rubbing your ass with his hand. You wicked little thing. You were loving this.

After a whole weekend of loving, rest assured Diluc wouldn’t need to be jealous anymore.

Childe:

It’s that time of the month for Childe lol

This man will always have a periodic urgency to protect you just about every month. He’s always playing the trickster harbinger, so of course he’s gonna drop that mask once and a while. But unlike diluc or Kaeya, not many people notice it.

He starts to catch on to the fact that some guy’s got an eye for you. He starts to see him everywhere and god it annoys him. But making a scene and acting all crazy isn’t his thing. He’ll be acting normal. Maybe he’ll even engage with this certain man, introducing himself as your partner.

But if one thing goes wrong he’ll leap to put you back in his arms. He trusts you, yes. But if you don’t return one night, or start feeling anxious or scared. He’s definitely gonna give this guy the boot.

Unfortunately. On one of these particular nights you, in fact, did not return home. He’s out the door. Racing to all your favourite spots. Finally, after Millenia of looking he spots you.

You... and that fool

He’s grabbing your arm, telling you to have another drink with him. He’s face is red and his hold is tight. All Childe can think about is strangling the man.

Not a moment later does he find his arm wrapped around the creeps throat. Pressing hard enough to here a tense gargle. Their fists pounding on Childe’s shoulders. Your face goes white, and you struggle to get Childe off the man. But when you do, you throw a vulgar look at Mr Creep before dragging Childe by the hair back home.

“You can’t just do that Childe! Causing a scene isn’t going to make anything better-“

“You’re sexy when you’re mad, you know that?~” he’s face is dreamy, eyes glazed as he looks you up and down. “Nothing’s going to take you from me. Definitely not him, no one, nothing, ever.”

Xiao:

Oh no

This man is an adeptus. There’s no way anyone’s going to get away with pestering you without a bruise. To him, there is no such thing as being polite. He doesn’t understand why you don’t just tell them to go away. So he’ll happily do it for you.

He’s not prone to go adventuring out beyond the inn. So when he suddenly starts following you outside, looking like a scary guard dog, of course your gonna question him.

The same group of men wait for you over the bridge. Disguising themselves as hopeless civilians trying to get help when they’re really just trying to get comfortable with you. They lift their heads with anticipation, eyes drinking up your figure as you walk towards them with a smile on your face.

You stop as you watch their eyes go wary. Faces more pale. Turning around, your met with your oh so peaceful lover Xiao. Running his finger over the sharpness of his spear.

“What ever they need, it must be very difficult considering that they keep coming back. I’ll help. Let’s settle this once and for all.” Xiao walks towards the group of men, starting to question them on what they need.

“U-Uh, We were just going to ask the lovely lady here for a minute of her time. Just to come talk to us...” the man’s face it white. Fumbling over his words as Xiao rests the edge of his spear on their shoulder.

“She’s busy. Leave.”He couldn’t have told them sooner. The men leave as soon as Xiao turns their back to them. He grabs hold of your arm and escorts you back to the inn, grumbling as he puts his pear away.

“Don’t spend time in people who don’t deserved your attention. Merely focus on me. I’ll be the only one for you.”

Zhongli:

Jealousy? What’s that?

Well, of course he knows what it is. But as Rex lapis Zhongli never had to really be jealous of anything. He had his friends, mora, he was a god, but now he has you, and seeing you being pestered by other men isn’t sitting right with him.

Unlike other people, Zhongli isn’t the best with communicating that he’s jealous. Cus at first all he thought was that he desired to be around you more. The amount of times he would surprise you by turning up everywhere you went was just ridiculous. But after some time, he realised that whenever he was around, the other men were not.

At first the attention was great. Zhongli would always invite you out for tea. He’d talk to you and give you all the affection you wanted. But after some time, you could tell something was bothering him. He’d constantly be looking if people were watching you, and he seemed on edge for some strange reason.

It was when you asked him about it that he really understood just how jealous he was. Now it wasn’t just the urge to protect you. It was the urge to keep the others away.

But, he isn’t one for violence. So he talked to you about it. Told you he was angered by all the men who tried to grab your attention.

“That’s all you needed to say~” you rested your finger on his lip. Hooking your arm on his shoulder as you sat on his lap. In the privacy of home, Zhongli melted to the feel of your touch.

“S-sweetheart,” he groaned as you kissed his neck. His head light as air.

“Don’t hold back Zhongli, I want to see you frustrated”

Hope you guys enjoyed ^^ sorry I’ve been away for so long, things have been very hectic. Scroll back up to see the nsfw ending link if you didn’t notice it already xx

[beann-e]

Bnha Characters reacting to when you quit your job

bakugou

your steps were quiet as you tried to work up the energy to unlock your front door. Your hands sweating and cold when you finally got the energy to put the key in the lock a deep exhale leaving your lips when you finally walked in.

Your Body only carrying you to your kitchen counter before you dropped your keys and bag on the same counter your body now rested against.

The room heating up and shifting from the ice quiet atmosphere youd created when you felt strong arms wrap around your waist and pull you back to meet a hard chest

Small kisses being planted on the side of your neck as you let out another sigh of relief as you spoke trying not to drown in the comfort being given to you “ baby “

Your body shook as you heard a deep grunt of acknowledgment “ we — we need to talk “

you felt as another set of kisses were placed to your neck before his head snuggled into the spot between your neck and shoulder “ I— I think I made a mistake“

You bit at your lip as you kept going “ I— I was trying my best to stick up for myself y’know like you told me”

“ mm—and did you“

“ I did —I mean I did stick up for myself and I had to I needed to bu—”

“ slowly losing interest y/n “

you let out a shallow cough “ but I think I did it at the wrong time “

his body stood up a bit straighter head still remaining in the same place somehow “ baby I —i lost my job “

You felt as your boyfriends body went hard almost as if he was trying not to slam your own body into the floor in anger his grip around your waist only getting tighter “ like I said I — I wrong time“

“ wrong time? — y/n wrong place “ he screamed as he jolted your soul out of your already shaken figure. His head flying back to look at you conveying all the anger and annoyance he held, “ what the fuck do we do now “

you let out a small laugh to try to ease the tension “ we — we rely on your hero check ? “

You watched as he sucked his teeth and moved out of the kitchen “ I can barely feed a fucking roach with my salary y/n “ his voice getting louder as he walked into the living room you following closely behind “ i — i can barely feed you — us — y/n this is why we don’t have little crumb snatchers running around now “

his voice deep and heavy “ cause we’re broke do you get that babe ? huh no — fuck — you— fuck fuck fuck you gotta go back — you can’t just be chilling around the fucking house while i’m working my ass off that’s not how starting a family works y/n “

“ baby it’s just until I can get a new job “

“ tch— and how long will that take y/n “

“ well I— “

“ huh months ? “

“ well n— “

“ couple weeks “

“ I mean hopefull— “

“ babe you don’t even fucking know “ he sighed as he griped the skin on the bridge of his nose “ so fucking stupid — so so so fucking stupid “

the room went quiet as your eyes dropped to the ground. “ wel— no — I — I don’t know kats” you shook your head “ I— I really don’t“

“ and that’s the problem y/n “ he screamed eyes finally opening to look at you.

God, he loved you but seriously you just didn’t think sometimes

It’s not that he was calling you stupid it’s just that he really really loved you

He loved that you listened to him. That whenever he gave advice you heard it and went with it.

The night he told you to speak up he was honestly just fucking with you. He always forgets that he has someone who loves him now meaning he’s taken seriously. He always forgets he’s not in high school anymore.

He can’t say something crazy and asshole—ish and expect to just be ignored. He has someone that loves him and will truly listen.

Your not the stupid one

nor the one in the wrong he is

and he knows he is because he heard everything you said about your situation. Yet, he knew you were different from him whereas he had been speaking his mind for years regardless of ranks.

You couldn’t.

You had a job where everything relied on ranks and status. You couldn’t just say whatever the fuck you wanted to like he could and yet he convinced you that night to speak up whenever your boss gave you extra work you didn’t wanna do.

His eyes felt heavy and so did his body his brain automatically beating himself up as he stared at you imagining the rough day youd had. If he was pissed off with the current situation he could only imagine how you felt.

Someone who hated to rely on others yet, now having to rely on their boyfriend.

“ come here “ your eyes lit up at the statement as your tired body wobbled over and into bakugous arms. Head hitting his chest as he crushed you “ I love you and i’m proud of you “

your heart sank.

“ fuck those idiots you only have room for one anyways and hes— fuck trust me I know i’m enough “

Shoto

“ so “

“ so “

You sat on the couch legs splayed out in front of you and hands playing with the tassels of the pillows placed next to you.

God you loved these pillows. You actually remember the day you bought them.

Y’know back when you had money

“ y/n “ you watched as shoto shifted uncomfortably on the couch next to you “ my love what are you doing home “

He shook his head confused at the body placed comfortably next to his own “ your not supposed to be home for “ he looked down at his watch moving his suit jacket up his arm to create space and to make sure he was seeing the time correctly “ for 7 more hours “

you let out a short laugh “ you sound like you just got caught cheating sho “

his eyebrows crinkled together as he stared at you in disgust “ y/n I would never “

His hand moved to be placed on your thigh “my love is that what you think ? — if that’s why your here then I can assure you tha—I mean honestly if so I would never be stupid enough to disrespect you in our home— you could’ve went to my office at least I mea— “

“ I lost my job shoto “

The air shifted as the hand on your thigh suddenly felt colder than before “ I— I lost my job “

you took a deep breath shaking your head “ it’s a long story on why but i’ve been leaving the house — pretending really— to go to work “

You chuckled “ god i’m sucha bad person “ your small chuckle turned into a hearty laugh as you felt your body go slack “ A fucking horrible timekeeper too if I managed to forget my husband gets off before me on weekends “

“ do not say these things about yourself “

“ it’s not like it’s a lie “ your tear filled eyes coming up to look at his. ” right “

“ I will not stand for this y/n “

“ for what — having an unemployed s/o—i mean you already have one so not much to do about that “

you scoffed “ why don’t you want a housewife ? huh“ you smiled “ I can wear the skirts for you y’know with the aprons cook you dinner and maybe we can have kids y’know we can even get —“

“ enough “

your body shook your eyes widened facing the 6 ft male now towering over you “ your always joking about serious things and I — I don’t understand “ his eyebrows creasing in desperate need to understand you. Eyes darting around your face “ how “

his voice going deeper as he got angrier “ y/n you lost your job“ his eyes grew wide “ do you realize how serious this is “

“ wh— “ you shook your head letting out a short scoff “ of course I do —I mean sho i’m the one who qui—lost it “

“ no you clearly don’t “ he scoffed “ not if your sitting here making jokes in my face “

His mouth quirked up in disgust “ it’s almost insulting — disgusting really “

“ wh— sho—“ you felt as a tear fell from your eye “ baby what could be so disgusting huh ? so ‘ insulting ‘ about me choosing to leave huh “

his eyes softened “ because of your reason to leave “

“ my reason ? “

“ my love I know you — I know you didn’t get fired and I know you wouldn’t just leave you loved it there “

your head dropped as your fiddled with your fingers “ so that means something led you to make that life changing decision and it hurts me that you were forced to make it “

Your heart broke, he was right he was always right, for days at work youd been dealing with an overbearing co worker who would tell you to do everything they didn’t feel like doing and when you finally decided to say no to them

They went and told your boss. Who even though you’d been working there longer than your so called coworker still believed everything they were told.

That was the day that you sadly found out your job favored years over hard work.

Due to the other person being there longer you were trumped in telling your story. It was seen as not necessary because , someone who was there for so long would have no reason to lie on someone like you.

A newbie

“ someone made you quit this job “

“ sho no they— I decided “

You felt as the couch shifted from him kicking it. You thinking he was moving to grab his shoes except walking past them and unlocking the door instead.

“ baby where are you going — we need to talk about how we’re going to split the bills now that i— “

“ i’ll handle it “

“ shoto you can’t put everything on your dads card we’re not “ you let out a soft exhale “ we’re not children anymore “

“ i’ll pay for it all myself — and you can be my little housewife “ he scoffed as your expression grew sour “ it was so funny a moment ago right “

“ shoto i’m not gonna ask again where are you going “

“ where else “

your eyebrows came together in a furrow “ wh— “

“ my love you work for my company ? obviously who ever I put in charge “ he shrugged walking barefoot to his car unlocking the door “ isn’t doing a very good job if they fire their bosses s/o ? “

He got into the drivers seat as he turned the car on and reversed the car “ needs to learn respect no ? so i’ll just have them switch places with you“ he smiled softly “ i’ll see you when I get home “

His once furious eyes turning soft at your body hidden in pajamas “ go inside baby —it’s cold —go order us some takeout i’ll be back in a little ok “

“ sho “

“ just let me handle this —i love you and i’ll be right back my love—go “

You shook your head softly “ go y/n “